Jonathan Birch
LightNews LightNews
banner
birchlse.bsky.social
Jonathan Birch
@birchlse.bsky.social
6K followers 310 following 760 posts

Professor, LSE. Philosophy of science, animal consciousness, animal ethics. Director of The Jeremy Coller Centre for Animal Sentience.

Videos

Jonathan Birch is a British philosopher and professor of philosophy at the London School of Economics and Political Science. His work addresses the philosophy of biology and behavioural sciences, especially questions concerning sentience, bioethics, animal welfare, and the evolution of social behaviour and social norms. .. more

Neuroscience 26%
Psychology 15%
Posts Replies Media Videos
Pinned
birchlse.bsky.social
Jonathan Birch @birchlse.bsky.social · Mar 25
An emotional day - I can announce I'll be the first director of The Jeremy Coller Centre for Animal Sentience at the LSE, supported by a £4m grant from the Jeremy Coller Foundation. Our mission: to develop better policies, laws and ways of caring for animals. (1/2)
www.lse.ac.uk/News/Latest-...
LSE announces new centre to study animal sentience
The Jeremy Coller Centre for Animal Sentience at LSE will develop new approaches to studying the feelings of other animals scientifically.
www.lse.ac.uk

Reposted by Jonathan Birch

birchlse.bsky.social
Jonathan Birch @birchlse.bsky.social · 1d
"Residual core" is slightly politer than "rump".

birchlse.bsky.social
Jonathan Birch @birchlse.bsky.social · 1d
You must be tempted to tell the story like this: phil. sci. and the core of analytic epistemology drifted apart; things got so bad that the residual "core" started to see "inquiry" as largely unstudied; by turning back to science we can set the record straight and solve the allegedly new problems.

birchlse.bsky.social
Jonathan Birch @birchlse.bsky.social · 1d
The opening of the abstract will seem a bit off to anyone who thinks of philosophy of science as an important branch of "epistemology in the analytic tradition".

birchlse.bsky.social
Jonathan Birch @birchlse.bsky.social · 2d
Veganism is not self-denial in my experience. You can do "Veganuary" and gorge yourself on 3D printed steaks, impossible burgers, artisanal fauxmage, cashew ice cream and as much chocolate as you want but it's called cacao so it's healthy now.

Reposted by Jonathan Birch

birchlse.bsky.social
Jonathan Birch @birchlse.bsky.social · 2d
It's making me reflect on how a culture of "charity entrepreneurship", where tons of startup-like charities try very different things, some of them very high risk to say the least, can work against the goal of a unified animal movement.

Reposted by Jonathan Birch

mbolotnikova.bsky.social
Marina Bolotnikova @mbolotnikova.bsky.social · 2d
This is terrible behavior by FarmKind, many are already saying. I don't actually think most people buy this framing, but never underestimate how good permission structures are at soothing deep defensiveness around eating animals
FarmKind graphic on a yellow background titled “Who made the better choice this January?” comparing a “Veganuary participant” vs a “Top competitive eater.” Left side lists: “Had to plan every meal,” “Checked every ingredient,” “Gave up her favourite food,” “Annoyed friends and family,” “Felt guilty for wanting meat,” and says “Helped 22 animals.” Right side shows a competitive eater with a “WINNER” badge and lists: “Ate whatever he wanted,” “Did huge eating challenges,” “Offset his meals & added £5,” and says “Helped 38 animals.”

Reposted by Jonathan Birch

wiglet1981.bsky.social
Richard Pettigrew @wiglet1981.bsky.social · 2d
A while ago, I posted a set of notes about the Bayesian approach to inquiry and how it can help us think about questions raised in the recent literature on zetetic epistemology. I’ve now corralled that material into something like a first draft of a book. I hope it might be of interest to others.
Richard Pettigrew, The value of information and the epistemology of inquiry - PhilArchive
In the analytic tradition, epistemology has typically begun at the point at which we have our evidence; it has then asked which beliefs or credences are justified or warranted by that ...
philarchive.org

Reposted by Jonathan Birch

birchlse.bsky.social
Jonathan Birch @birchlse.bsky.social · 3d
As an outsider it surprises me that AOC has negligible Gen Z support. Why is this?

Reposted by Jonathan Birch

Reposted by Jonathan Birch

Reposted by Jonathan Birch

simongosden.bsky.social
Simon Gosden @simongosden.bsky.social · 4d
Egyptian dissident should be deported from UK, Tories say.
Which is bizarre, to say the least, as they granted him citizenship in 2021.

Reposted by Jonathan Birch

andreapolanco.bsky.social
Andrea Polanco, PhD @andreapolanco.bsky.social · 4d
For anyone interested in looking at the data on Veganuary, I recommend checking out this summary: faunalytics.org/tactics-in-p...

Self-reported data suggests it's effective in reducing AP consumption post-intervention & supermarket data shows that plant-based product sales also remain higher after
Tactics In Practice: The Science Of Vegan Challenges - Faunalytics
Vegan challenges have become a popular way to encourage dietary change. This deep dive gets into the nitty gritty of what makes a challenge achievable.
faunalytics.org

birchlse.bsky.social
Jonathan Birch @birchlse.bsky.social · 4d
But the main objections to this campaign concern its expected consequences.

birchlse.bsky.social
Jonathan Birch @birchlse.bsky.social · 4d
This is confirming all the parts of the Telegraph article I thought were exaggerations. Disastrous.

Reposted by Cass R. Sunstein, Olivier J. Blanchard, Mariana Mazzucato , and 81 more

Reposted by Jonathan Birch

birchlse.bsky.social
Jonathan Birch @birchlse.bsky.social · 4d
Early evidence (i.e. this Telegraph piece) suggests the plan isn't working very well.

birchlse.bsky.social
Jonathan Birch @birchlse.bsky.social · 4d
The idea of campaigns aimed at meat eaters, encouraging them to donate to animal charities, is one I support. But if they take aim at veganuary rather than pitching it as complementary (which it surely is), that would be a misjudgement.

birchlse.bsky.social
Jonathan Birch @birchlse.bsky.social · 4d
This article should show them why such a plan would be likely to backfire - so hopefully they will reflect on it and replan.

birchlse.bsky.social
Jonathan Birch @birchlse.bsky.social · 4d
My assumption is that the Telegraph really did a number on FarmKind with this article. It's a divide-and-rule tactic. I don't think the people at FarmKind see themselves as "pro-meat" or "on the other side" to vegans, looking for "defections".

Reposted by Jonathan Birch

birchlse.bsky.social
Jonathan Birch @birchlse.bsky.social · 6d
I presume van Eyck is still on X (obvious tech bro).