Jonathan Birch
@birchlse.bsky.social
Professor, LSE. Philosophy of science, animal consciousness, animal ethics. Director of The Jeremy Coller Centre for Animal Sentience.
Pinned
Jonathan Birch
@birchlse.bsky.social
· Mar 25
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
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-...
www.lse.ac.uk/News/Latest-...
Pretty much no one can make their ideas clear to others on the 1st attempt. The two main reactions are "let's painstakingly clarify this with some back and forth", and "doesn't matter as long as the various interpretations are themselves interesting", leading to the 2 main branches of philosophy.
November 10, 2025 at 8:14 PM
Pretty much no one can make their ideas clear to others on the 1st attempt. The two main reactions are "let's painstakingly clarify this with some back and forth", and "doesn't matter as long as the various interpretations are themselves interesting", leading to the 2 main branches of philosophy.
Reposted by Jonathan Birch
Like why would the bbc need to ‘balance’ its cover of the US in this way?
When the BBC covers, say, Xi critically should it also run a programme dedicated to the CCP’s achievements?
When the BBC covers, say, Xi critically should it also run a programme dedicated to the CCP’s achievements?
November 9, 2025 at 9:38 PM
Like why would the bbc need to ‘balance’ its cover of the US in this way?
When the BBC covers, say, Xi critically should it also run a programme dedicated to the CCP’s achievements?
When the BBC covers, say, Xi critically should it also run a programme dedicated to the CCP’s achievements?
Reposted by Jonathan Birch
Solar’s price drop is astonishing: panels are now 98% cheaper than when I first analyzed them in 2004.
Today, building a fence with solar can be cheaper than using wood.
Today, building a fence with solar can be cheaper than using wood.
November 10, 2025 at 8:10 AM
Solar’s price drop is astonishing: panels are now 98% cheaper than when I first analyzed them in 2004.
Today, building a fence with solar can be cheaper than using wood.
Today, building a fence with solar can be cheaper than using wood.
Reposted by Jonathan Birch
This reminds me of a paper this year on how congenitally blind people can talk about colour in detail (wonder if relevant to Molyneaux problem too):
Liu, Van Paridon, and Lupyan. 2025. ‘Learning about Color from Language’. Communications Psychology 3 (1): 60. doi.org/10.1038/s442...
Liu, Van Paridon, and Lupyan. 2025. ‘Learning about Color from Language’. Communications Psychology 3 (1): 60. doi.org/10.1038/s442...
Learning about color from language - Communications Psychology
Blind people show similar associations between adjectives (e.g. cold) and colours (e.g. blue) as sighted people; word embedding models trained on corpora of written and spoken language learn these ass...
doi.org
November 10, 2025 at 10:17 AM
This reminds me of a paper this year on how congenitally blind people can talk about colour in detail (wonder if relevant to Molyneaux problem too):
Liu, Van Paridon, and Lupyan. 2025. ‘Learning about Color from Language’. Communications Psychology 3 (1): 60. doi.org/10.1038/s442...
Liu, Van Paridon, and Lupyan. 2025. ‘Learning about Color from Language’. Communications Psychology 3 (1): 60. doi.org/10.1038/s442...
Reposted by Jonathan Birch
This👇.
Ved Mehta was blind from age 3 but wrote nonfiction books full of rich visual imagery constructed from auditory, tactile & olfactory data. A reviewer once called the method dishonest. Mehta wrote to the editor that they would be "well advised to review my book rather than my disability".
November 10, 2025 at 7:24 AM
This👇.
Ved Mehta was blind from age 3 but wrote nonfiction books full of rich visual imagery constructed from auditory, tactile & olfactory data. A reviewer once called the method dishonest. Mehta wrote to the editor that they would be "well advised to review my book rather than my disability".
November 9, 2025 at 11:40 AM
Ved Mehta was blind from age 3 but wrote nonfiction books full of rich visual imagery constructed from auditory, tactile & olfactory data. A reviewer once called the method dishonest. Mehta wrote to the editor that they would be "well advised to review my book rather than my disability".
Reposted by Jonathan Birch
New paper out in this volume by human rights lawyers www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/int... where I discuss what an ‘epistemic jurisdiction’ is, two possible different views on it, and why it matters for international cooperation in the context of implementing the human right to science (Art 27 of UNDHR).
November 8, 2025 at 5:39 PM
New paper out in this volume by human rights lawyers www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/int... where I discuss what an ‘epistemic jurisdiction’ is, two possible different views on it, and why it matters for international cooperation in the context of implementing the human right to science (Art 27 of UNDHR).
Reposted by Jonathan Birch
The most incredible library in the world, @bodleian.ox.ac.uk opened to OTD 1602, through the energy, money & commitment of Sir Thomas Bodley. It began with 5k books, & now more than 22m, with 2m+reader visits a year, & multi-million online users across the globe. Privilged to be its 25th librarian!
November 8, 2025 at 7:20 AM
The most incredible library in the world, @bodleian.ox.ac.uk opened to OTD 1602, through the energy, money & commitment of Sir Thomas Bodley. It began with 5k books, & now more than 22m, with 2m+reader visits a year, & multi-million online users across the globe. Privilged to be its 25th librarian!
Reposted by Jonathan Birch
Environmental protesters are being given licence conditions on release from jail that are supposed to be limited to extremism cases.
Ella Ward, 22, was banned from going to any meetings or gatherings, except for worship, without permission.
www.theguardian.com/law/2025/nov...
Ella Ward, 22, was banned from going to any meetings or gatherings, except for worship, without permission.
www.theguardian.com/law/2025/nov...
Jailed UK climate protesters facing conditions reserved for extremists on release
Exclusive: Just Stop Oil activist was banned from attending gatherings, including meeting a friend in a cafe, without permission
www.theguardian.com
November 8, 2025 at 10:09 AM
Environmental protesters are being given licence conditions on release from jail that are supposed to be limited to extremism cases.
Ella Ward, 22, was banned from going to any meetings or gatherings, except for worship, without permission.
www.theguardian.com/law/2025/nov...
Ella Ward, 22, was banned from going to any meetings or gatherings, except for worship, without permission.
www.theguardian.com/law/2025/nov...
Reposted by Jonathan Birch
Watson and Crick elucidated the structure of DNA. Stop saying that they discovered DNA! This was done by another guy you probably haven't heard of! And therein lies a story. academic.oup.com/genetics/art...
Before Watson and Crick in 1953 Came Friedrich Miescher in 1869
Abstract. The story of genetics typically omits the original discovery of the molecular nature of DNA: Friedrich Miescher's 1869 discovery of the substance
academic.oup.com
November 8, 2025 at 7:54 AM
Watson and Crick elucidated the structure of DNA. Stop saying that they discovered DNA! This was done by another guy you probably haven't heard of! And therein lies a story. academic.oup.com/genetics/art...
Yale's Beinecke Library is quite glorious.
November 7, 2025 at 9:26 PM
Yale's Beinecke Library is quite glorious.
Reposted by Jonathan Birch
Finnur Dellsén got a nice pic of me on my standard Q&A slide, so now I have a stock reply to any time anyone disagrees with me.
November 7, 2025 at 10:22 AM
Finnur Dellsén got a nice pic of me on my standard Q&A slide, so now I have a stock reply to any time anyone disagrees with me.
Reposted by Jonathan Birch
Great meeting on AI consciousness research this week at Google NY, what an inspiring crowd!
Really grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the panel on AI consciousness evaluation, alongside Roman Yampolskiy, @birchlse.bsky.social and Rob Long.
And special thanks to Rob for the sticker :)
Really grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the panel on AI consciousness evaluation, alongside Roman Yampolskiy, @birchlse.bsky.social and Rob Long.
And special thanks to Rob for the sticker :)
November 7, 2025 at 10:56 AM
Great meeting on AI consciousness research this week at Google NY, what an inspiring crowd!
Really grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the panel on AI consciousness evaluation, alongside Roman Yampolskiy, @birchlse.bsky.social and Rob Long.
And special thanks to Rob for the sticker :)
Really grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the panel on AI consciousness evaluation, alongside Roman Yampolskiy, @birchlse.bsky.social and Rob Long.
And special thanks to Rob for the sticker :)
Reposted by Jonathan Birch
UK university news just this week: 163 jobs at risk + course closures at Leicester; 300 jobs at risk at Dundee; modern language & music courses being closed at Nottingham. Every week it‘s the same.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
University of Leicester to consult on redundancies
University bosses are also planning to stop a number of courses.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 6, 2025 at 9:03 PM
UK university news just this week: 163 jobs at risk + course closures at Leicester; 300 jobs at risk at Dundee; modern language & music courses being closed at Nottingham. Every week it‘s the same.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Jonathan Birch
Join our upcoming public lecture on 'Saving Britain's wildlife' with Iris Berger, Luke Hecht, Karen Kovaka, @kneppwilding.bsky.social - chaired by @birchlse.bsky.social
🗓️ Tuesday 11 November - 6.30pm (London time)
📍 LSE campus and online
🎟️ Register at: www.lse.ac.uk/events/savin...
🗓️ Tuesday 11 November - 6.30pm (London time)
📍 LSE campus and online
🎟️ Register at: www.lse.ac.uk/events/savin...
Saving Britain's wildlife | Ethics of conservation
6.30pm Tues 11 Nov | Luke Hecht, Karen Kovaka, Matt Phelps | Ticket Required | Free public event at LSE
www.lse.ac.uk
November 4, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Join our upcoming public lecture on 'Saving Britain's wildlife' with Iris Berger, Luke Hecht, Karen Kovaka, @kneppwilding.bsky.social - chaired by @birchlse.bsky.social
🗓️ Tuesday 11 November - 6.30pm (London time)
📍 LSE campus and online
🎟️ Register at: www.lse.ac.uk/events/savin...
🗓️ Tuesday 11 November - 6.30pm (London time)
📍 LSE campus and online
🎟️ Register at: www.lse.ac.uk/events/savin...
Reposted by Jonathan Birch
Our Vice Chancellor reassures us that planned redundancies won't decimate the university. Since the leadership is cutting 4% rather than 10% of staff he's technically correct, so that's fine 🤷♂️.
November 5, 2025 at 11:01 AM
Our Vice Chancellor reassures us that planned redundancies won't decimate the university. Since the leadership is cutting 4% rather than 10% of staff he's technically correct, so that's fine 🤷♂️.
Reposted by Jonathan Birch
👏🎉
Thanks very much to The Royal Institute of Philosophy for awarding me the Nayef Al-Rodhan Book Prize 2025. Thanks as well to the ERC who funded it, Peter Momtchiloff who commissioned it for OUP, all my LSE team members past and present, and everyone who made the book possible!
November 5, 2025 at 12:33 AM
👏🎉
Reposted by Jonathan Birch
Loosely reminds me of Philip K. Dick's alternative-history-novel-within-an-alternative-history-novel "The Grasshopper Lies Heavy" and how it envisioned satellite television:
November 1, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Loosely reminds me of Philip K. Dick's alternative-history-novel-within-an-alternative-history-novel "The Grasshopper Lies Heavy" and how it envisioned satellite television:
VK Narayana Menon describing the fears of airline execs in 1965 - who worried that satellites would put them out of business.
November 1, 2025 at 12:46 PM
VK Narayana Menon describing the fears of airline execs in 1965 - who worried that satellites would put them out of business.
Reposted by Jonathan Birch
The Edge of Sentience: Risk and Precaution in Humans, Other Animals, and AI (oxunipress.bsky.social) by Jonathan Birch birchlse.bsky.social has been selected as this year’s Nayef Al-Rodhan International Prize in Transdisciplinary Philosophy.
Learn more: royalinstitutephilosophy.org/news/winner-...
Learn more: royalinstitutephilosophy.org/news/winner-...
October 31, 2025 at 10:58 AM
The Edge of Sentience: Risk and Precaution in Humans, Other Animals, and AI (oxunipress.bsky.social) by Jonathan Birch birchlse.bsky.social has been selected as this year’s Nayef Al-Rodhan International Prize in Transdisciplinary Philosophy.
Learn more: royalinstitutephilosophy.org/news/winner-...
Learn more: royalinstitutephilosophy.org/news/winner-...
Reposted by Jonathan Birch
Congratulations @birchlse.bsky.social on winning the 2025 Royal Institute of Philosophy Nayef Al-Rodhan Book Prize! 👏
The winner of the 2025 Royal Institute of Philosophy Nayef Al-Rodhan Book Prize is @jonathanbirch.bsky.social for his book, The Edge of Sentience. Congratulations! And bravo for the vision speech about how philosophy is changing
October 30, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Congratulations @birchlse.bsky.social on winning the 2025 Royal Institute of Philosophy Nayef Al-Rodhan Book Prize! 👏
Thanks very much to The Royal Institute of Philosophy for awarding me the Nayef Al-Rodhan Book Prize 2025. Thanks as well to the ERC who funded it, Peter Momtchiloff who commissioned it for OUP, all my LSE team members past and present, and everyone who made the book possible!
October 30, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Thanks very much to The Royal Institute of Philosophy for awarding me the Nayef Al-Rodhan Book Prize 2025. Thanks as well to the ERC who funded it, Peter Momtchiloff who commissioned it for OUP, all my LSE team members past and present, and everyone who made the book possible!
Reposted by Jonathan Birch
A wonderful @triphilosophy.bsky.social evening. Congratulations to the finalists!
royalinstitutephilosophy.org/news/shortli...
Special congratulations to @birchlse.bsky.social for winning the 2025 Nayef Al-Rodhan Prize in Transdisciplinary Philosophy for his book The Edge of Sentience.
royalinstitutephilosophy.org/news/shortli...
Special congratulations to @birchlse.bsky.social for winning the 2025 Nayef Al-Rodhan Prize in Transdisciplinary Philosophy for his book The Edge of Sentience.
October 30, 2025 at 9:06 AM
A wonderful @triphilosophy.bsky.social evening. Congratulations to the finalists!
royalinstitutephilosophy.org/news/shortli...
Special congratulations to @birchlse.bsky.social for winning the 2025 Nayef Al-Rodhan Prize in Transdisciplinary Philosophy for his book The Edge of Sentience.
royalinstitutephilosophy.org/news/shortli...
Special congratulations to @birchlse.bsky.social for winning the 2025 Nayef Al-Rodhan Prize in Transdisciplinary Philosophy for his book The Edge of Sentience.
Reposted by Jonathan Birch
The winner of the 2025 Royal Institute of Philosophy Nayef Al-Rodhan Book Prize is @jonathanbirch.bsky.social for his book, The Edge of Sentience. Congratulations! And bravo for the vision speech about how philosophy is changing
October 30, 2025 at 7:50 AM
The winner of the 2025 Royal Institute of Philosophy Nayef Al-Rodhan Book Prize is @jonathanbirch.bsky.social for his book, The Edge of Sentience. Congratulations! And bravo for the vision speech about how philosophy is changing
Reposted by Jonathan Birch
Ooh have we done epistemic cringe yet
epistemology is cringe
October 29, 2025 at 9:45 PM
Ooh have we done epistemic cringe yet