Alex Gregory
@alexgregory.bsky.social
Associate Professor in Philosophy, at Southampton, UK. Working on happiness, wellbeing, desire, metaethics, etc. http://alexgregory.name.
Reposted by Alex Gregory
I am sharing a preprint of my chapter forthcoming in the Routledge Handbook on the Philosophy of Desire (edited by @alexgregory.bsky.social): "Desires in Economics."
philpapers.org/rec/BECDIE-3
Feedback or any thoughts are welcome!
Contains references to a galaxy far, far away🌌
More details below👇
philpapers.org/rec/BECDIE-3
Feedback or any thoughts are welcome!
Contains references to a galaxy far, far away🌌
More details below👇
Lukas Beck, Desires in Economics - PhilPapers
At the heart of economics is a concept that bears a striking resemblance to a desire. Economists use preferences to explain and predict people's choices. However, what exactly we are talking ...
philpapers.org
November 13, 2025 at 5:19 PM
I am sharing a preprint of my chapter forthcoming in the Routledge Handbook on the Philosophy of Desire (edited by @alexgregory.bsky.social): "Desires in Economics."
philpapers.org/rec/BECDIE-3
Feedback or any thoughts are welcome!
Contains references to a galaxy far, far away🌌
More details below👇
philpapers.org/rec/BECDIE-3
Feedback or any thoughts are welcome!
Contains references to a galaxy far, far away🌌
More details below👇
I originally got into philosophy largely by hanging around on philosophy newsgroups on usenet (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usenet). This would have been around the mid-late 90s. I wonder if this makes me the one of the oldest academic philosophers who got into the subject through "social media"?
Usenet - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
November 12, 2025 at 12:29 PM
I originally got into philosophy largely by hanging around on philosophy newsgroups on usenet (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usenet). This would have been around the mid-late 90s. I wonder if this makes me the one of the oldest academic philosophers who got into the subject through "social media"?
My article on structural rationality in desire is now out, open-access, at Utilitas. Amongst other things, it explains why instrumental desires are not just ultimate desires combined with relevant beliefs: they are more plausibly independent states of mind.
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Structural Rationality in Desire | Utilitas | Cambridge Core
Structural Rationality in Desire - Volume 37 Issue 4
www.cambridge.org
November 5, 2025 at 12:35 PM
My article on structural rationality in desire is now out, open-access, at Utilitas. Amongst other things, it explains why instrumental desires are not just ultimate desires combined with relevant beliefs: they are more plausibly independent states of mind.
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Reposted by Alex Gregory
Python was awarded a funding grant, funding grant asked Python foundation to remove all diversity and inclusion initiatives they have.
Python foundation said no and rejected the grant.
If you use Python, send a few dollars to the charity to keep it going. I’m pushing a dono on behalf of ScamGuard.
Python foundation said no and rejected the grant.
If you use Python, send a few dollars to the charity to keep it going. I’m pushing a dono on behalf of ScamGuard.
Please read our statement, share it with your networks, and support us if you can. www.python.org/sponsors/app... psfmember.org/civicrm/cont...
October 27, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Python was awarded a funding grant, funding grant asked Python foundation to remove all diversity and inclusion initiatives they have.
Python foundation said no and rejected the grant.
If you use Python, send a few dollars to the charity to keep it going. I’m pushing a dono on behalf of ScamGuard.
Python foundation said no and rejected the grant.
If you use Python, send a few dollars to the charity to keep it going. I’m pushing a dono on behalf of ScamGuard.
Found some time this morning to continue some work on my manuscript on fitting happiness (alexgregory.name#HAPbook). One question: The English word "Happy" clearly has many meanings - it is polysemous. Is there yet some single core meaning common to the various uses? Luckiness?
Alex Gregory
alexgregory.name
October 22, 2025 at 12:24 PM
Found some time this morning to continue some work on my manuscript on fitting happiness (alexgregory.name#HAPbook). One question: The English word "Happy" clearly has many meanings - it is polysemous. Is there yet some single core meaning common to the various uses? Luckiness?
Reposted by Alex Gregory
Very glad to see that someone is doing the important work of aligning AI alignment. alignmentalignment.ai
Center for the Alignment of AI Alignment Centers
We align the aligners
alignmentalignment.ai
September 11, 2025 at 1:04 PM
Very glad to see that someone is doing the important work of aligning AI alignment. alignmentalignment.ai
Reposted by Alex Gregory
August 27, 2025 at 10:29 AM
New paper: "Structural Rationality in Desire", at Utilitas. I defend the idea that structural rationality has things to say about desire, and defend a rational requirement to desire the means to your ends.
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Structural Rationality in Desire | Utilitas | Cambridge Core
Structural Rationality in Desire
www.cambridge.org
August 26, 2025 at 1:57 PM
New paper: "Structural Rationality in Desire", at Utilitas. I defend the idea that structural rationality has things to say about desire, and defend a rational requirement to desire the means to your ends.
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Reposted by Alex Gregory
Excited to be appearing at a Philosophy in the Bookshop event at Blackwell’s flagship store in Oxford.
Please repost and register now!
@blackwells.bsky.social @nigelwarburton.bsky.social
@philoswarwick.bsky.social
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/philosophy...
Please repost and register now!
@blackwells.bsky.social @nigelwarburton.bsky.social
@philoswarwick.bsky.social
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/philosophy...
PHILOSOPHY IN THE BOOKSHOP with David Bather Woods
For this months Philosophy in the Bookshop event, David Bather Woods discusses his new biography of Schopenhauer with Nigel Warburton
www.eventbrite.co.uk
August 14, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Excited to be appearing at a Philosophy in the Bookshop event at Blackwell’s flagship store in Oxford.
Please repost and register now!
@blackwells.bsky.social @nigelwarburton.bsky.social
@philoswarwick.bsky.social
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/philosophy...
Please repost and register now!
@blackwells.bsky.social @nigelwarburton.bsky.social
@philoswarwick.bsky.social
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/philosophy...
This navigable and enormous (I'm guessing: comprehensive) tree of life is pretty amazing: www.onezoom.org
OneZoom Tree of Life Explorer
Tree of life explorer
www.onezoom.org
August 11, 2025 at 10:06 AM
This navigable and enormous (I'm guessing: comprehensive) tree of life is pretty amazing: www.onezoom.org
It occurs to me that some people might not know of this fantastic guide to punctuation. It manages to be succinct, clear, and sensible. www.sussex.ac.uk/informatics/....
Guide to Punctuation
www.sussex.ac.uk
August 4, 2025 at 3:00 PM
It occurs to me that some people might not know of this fantastic guide to punctuation. It manages to be succinct, clear, and sensible. www.sussex.ac.uk/informatics/....
Reposted by Alex Gregory
Here is the advert for a postdoc at Liverpool for a project I'm involved in. Please share it with anyone who you think might be interested in applying. A brief project description is below.
tinyurl.com/4f7vw7ra
tinyurl.com/4f7vw7ra
June 20, 2025 at 6:51 AM
Here is the advert for a postdoc at Liverpool for a project I'm involved in. Please share it with anyone who you think might be interested in applying. A brief project description is below.
tinyurl.com/4f7vw7ra
tinyurl.com/4f7vw7ra
Reposted by Alex Gregory
An interesting thing about sports (and other contests-for-entertainment) is that they have to balance meritocracy against excitement. Designing a contest that actually selects the best team is often boring, because we know who is the best team. So most sports build in randomness
June 9, 2025 at 10:57 AM
An interesting thing about sports (and other contests-for-entertainment) is that they have to balance meritocracy against excitement. Designing a contest that actually selects the best team is often boring, because we know who is the best team. So most sports build in randomness
Something about pulling apart lego toys, or unbuilding ikea furniture?
Philosophers of science: please come up with a way of talking about discovering natural kinds that's less gross than "carving nature at its joints." #philsky
June 3, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Something about pulling apart lego toys, or unbuilding ikea furniture?
Reposted by Alex Gregory
Spam emails from predatory academic journals: Dearest Dr Professor Landes, may you grace us with your world-leading expertise?
Emails from actual academic journals: We've created an account in our system for you. Review this paper, kthx.
Emails from actual academic journals: We've created an account in our system for you. Review this paper, kthx.
May 30, 2025 at 9:10 AM
Spam emails from predatory academic journals: Dearest Dr Professor Landes, may you grace us with your world-leading expertise?
Emails from actual academic journals: We've created an account in our system for you. Review this paper, kthx.
Emails from actual academic journals: We've created an account in our system for you. Review this paper, kthx.
Reposted by Alex Gregory
RIP Alasdair MacIntyre, a towering figure the likes of which this world rarely produces. Perhaps I shouldn't be surprised that his influence extended far beyond his scholarship:
May 22, 2025 at 8:25 PM
RIP Alasdair MacIntyre, a towering figure the likes of which this world rarely produces. Perhaps I shouldn't be surprised that his influence extended far beyond his scholarship:
New paper coming out in Philosopher's Imprint: "Take In Your Hen: Fittingness and Hedonic Adaptation".
philpapers.org/rec/GRETIY
philpapers.org/rec/GRETIY
Alex Gregory, Take In Your Hen: Fittingness and Hedonic Adaptation - PhilPapers
Humans have a strong tendency to hedonically adapt to their circumstances, so that something that once brought joy eventually brings only indifference. Does this tendency guarantee a kind of failure o...
philpapers.org
May 22, 2025 at 2:37 PM
New paper coming out in Philosopher's Imprint: "Take In Your Hen: Fittingness and Hedonic Adaptation".
philpapers.org/rec/GRETIY
philpapers.org/rec/GRETIY
Reposted by Alex Gregory
Putnam 1975:
I have a vague idea of what measles is but literally all I know about mumps and rubella is that they’re in a vaccine with measles
May 20, 2025 at 10:50 AM
Putnam 1975:
Reposted by Alex Gregory
Come and work with us! We are advertising for a Lecturer in Philosophy (roughly=Assistant Prof) with research interests in philosophy of mind, metaphysics, or language. Details:
jobs.soton.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx...
jobs.soton.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx...
May 16, 2025 at 9:26 AM
Come and work with us! We are advertising for a Lecturer in Philosophy (roughly=Assistant Prof) with research interests in philosophy of mind, metaphysics, or language. Details:
jobs.soton.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx...
jobs.soton.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx...
Why does everyone *always* set up the problem of evil by appeal to God's omnipotence, omnibenevolence, *and omniscience*? It's relevant to the problem, but not central. Theodicies effectively aim to state caveats on omnipotence and omnibenevolence, so they are where the action is.
May 15, 2025 at 11:30 AM
Why does everyone *always* set up the problem of evil by appeal to God's omnipotence, omnibenevolence, *and omniscience*? It's relevant to the problem, but not central. Theodicies effectively aim to state caveats on omnipotence and omnibenevolence, so they are where the action is.
Reposted by Alex Gregory
This is the first of two adverts for postdocs on a project I'm involved in with Laura Gow and Thomas Raleigh. This one will be based in Luxembourg; the other will be based in Liverpool and will be advertised soon. Please share with anyone who might be interested.
recruitment.uni.lu/en/details.h...
recruitment.uni.lu/en/details.h...
Job Portal - University of Luxembourg
recruitment.uni.lu
May 15, 2025 at 9:01 AM
This is the first of two adverts for postdocs on a project I'm involved in with Laura Gow and Thomas Raleigh. This one will be based in Luxembourg; the other will be based in Liverpool and will be advertised soon. Please share with anyone who might be interested.
recruitment.uni.lu/en/details.h...
recruitment.uni.lu/en/details.h...
Many years ago when I was a teenager starting to study philosophy, my Nan reported that she's once heard philosophy described as the effort to check things that were normally treated as common sense. I've since found few better short descriptions, I think.
It's always hard to give a short answer to "what is philosophy?". But I wonder if the beginnings of one comes out when we notice that many of the core areas of philosophy surround words in this list: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Most_co... (the, be, if, good, know, want, because, etc.).
Most common words in English - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
April 25, 2025 at 10:50 AM
Many years ago when I was a teenager starting to study philosophy, my Nan reported that she's once heard philosophy described as the effort to check things that were normally treated as common sense. I've since found few better short descriptions, I think.
It's always hard to give a short answer to "what is philosophy?". But I wonder if the beginnings of one comes out when we notice that many of the core areas of philosophy surround words in this list: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Most_co... (the, be, if, good, know, want, because, etc.).
Most common words in English - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
April 25, 2025 at 10:46 AM
It's always hard to give a short answer to "what is philosophy?". But I wonder if the beginnings of one comes out when we notice that many of the core areas of philosophy surround words in this list: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Most_co... (the, be, if, good, know, want, because, etc.).
Reposted by Alex Gregory
I get the impression that my Happiness&Wellbeing students this year are less sympathetic than normal to hedonism, and more swayed by the experience machine objection. Is that some kind of post-pandemic effect?
March 27, 2025 at 1:21 PM
I get the impression that my Happiness&Wellbeing students this year are less sympathetic than normal to hedonism, and more swayed by the experience machine objection. Is that some kind of post-pandemic effect?