Kyle van Oosterum
koosterum.bsky.social
Kyle van Oosterum
@koosterum.bsky.social
Fellow in Political Philosophy @UCL’s Digital Speech Lab
Oxford PhD candidate
www.Kylevo.com
Interested in echo chambers, paternalism and all things liberalism
A little personal, but here's a new post about Imposter Syndrome.

I've dealt with it for years and none of the usual advice worked. Then I realized it behaves like a conspiracy theory – and that insight changed how I relate to it.

Check it out here!
open.substack.com/pub/kylevo/p...
October 25, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Reposted by Kyle van Oosterum
It has been said: start an email with normal human pleasantries and only later get to your request for work.

But I say unto you: no, get your request into the first line so I can see it in the preview without having to click anything.
October 9, 2025 at 7:41 AM
We talk about civility as if it’s about manners. But what if it’s really about uncertainty — about how we engage others before we’re sure their views are beyond the pale?

New Substack essay⬇️

open.substack.com/pub/kylevo/p...
Is Civility the 'Nice No Matter What' virtue?
Integrity and the Bounds of Civility
open.substack.com
October 5, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Everyone talks about civility. Here’s how to think about it.

open.substack.com/pub/kylevo/p...
Three Kinds of Civility
What we talk about, how we talk about it, and who we are while doing it.
open.substack.com
September 21, 2025 at 1:32 PM
Dog-whistling gets a lot of attention. But what about its opposite — when we hear hidden codes that aren’t there?
A short note on “wolf-crying”.

open.substack.com/pub/kylevo/p...
On Political Wolf-Crying
A note on hearing what hasn't been said
open.substack.com
September 1, 2025 at 9:08 AM
Reposted by Kyle van Oosterum
August 30, 2025 at 2:48 AM
Reposted by Kyle van Oosterum
“We should publicly own up to the failures and excesses of our own side. I call this practice partisan admissions of guilt.”

Ooh, it’s rare for me to agree so wholeheartedly with something. @koosterum.bsky.social’s invitation has my full endorsement:

buff.ly/AwWd3q1
August 25, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Just wrote my first Substack essay. It’s on “partisan admissions of guilt.”

Check it out ⬇️

open.substack.com/pub/kylevo/p...
Trust Me, I'm Sorry
On 'partisan admissions of guilt'
open.substack.com
August 24, 2025 at 10:14 AM
Reposted by Kyle van Oosterum
I'm also excited to share that another paper of mine, co-authored with Helena Ward and Rhys Southan, "A Timing Problem for Instrumental Convergence," is out in Philosophical Studies! doi.org/10.1007/s110...
A timing problem for instrumental convergence - Philosophical Studies
Those who worry about a superintelligent AI destroying humanity often appeal to the instrumental convergence thesis—the claim that even if we don’t know what a superintelligence’s ultimate goals will ...
doi.org
July 4, 2025 at 1:17 PM
Some great news this month!
1) Officially finished my philosophy PhD, examined by Elizabeth Anderson and Paul Billingham.
2) Starting a new job at King's College London in September as an Early Career Fellow at the YTL Centre in the Dickson Poon Law School.
June 24, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Reposted by Kyle van Oosterum
Fwiw, if I had to pick a single document at this moment which authoritatively & comprehensively summarizes the causes of & remedies for addressing disinformation, it would be this Institut Jean Nicod policy brief. Highly recommend uploading it into a chatbot for translation.
June 9, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Reposted by Kyle van Oosterum
#BookReview The Ethics of Advising. M. Jonas, 2025. Oxford, Oxford University Press. 256 pp, £77.00 (hb) | David Archard #philsky #philosophy onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/QMJZTT...
The Ethics of Advising. M. Jonas, 2025. Oxford, Oxford University Press. 256 pp, £77.00 (hb)
You have to enable JavaScript in your browser's settings in order to use the eReader.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
June 6, 2025 at 10:07 AM
Really pleased about how this turned out! Thanks to UCL and Emily McTernan for having me.

See the podcast here:
open.spotify.com/episode/1fia...

See the paper it’s promoting here:

doi.org/10.1111/japp...
March 16, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Reposted by Kyle van Oosterum
Philosophers! Please follow & share our new account with your colleagues - we would ultimately like to move away from Twitter/X. #philosophy #philosophers #appliedphilosophy #philosophyjournal
November 27, 2024 at 3:24 PM