Chris Cousens
@chrisjcousens.bsky.social
Philosopher writing about harmful speech and political discourse online. Lecturer in moral and political philosophy.
He/him
https://chriscousensphilosophy.wordpress.com/chris-cousens/
He/him
https://chriscousensphilosophy.wordpress.com/chris-cousens/
Some people just hate castles, hills, busses that run remotely to schedule…
November 26, 2025 at 9:55 AM
Some people just hate castles, hills, busses that run remotely to schedule…
Annoyingly, when I try to teach via the Socratic method students sometimes say things other than ‘Yes, that’s right’ and ‘Quite correct’.
November 13, 2025 at 11:40 AM
Annoyingly, when I try to teach via the Socratic method students sometimes say things other than ‘Yes, that’s right’ and ‘Quite correct’.
A streetcar named ‘Desiree’.
November 5, 2025 at 6:28 PM
A streetcar named ‘Desiree’.
Footnotes, eReader or PDF.
November 3, 2025 at 1:07 PM
Footnotes, eReader or PDF.
That’s where they keep the cereal killers?
November 2, 2025 at 2:57 PM
That’s where they keep the cereal killers?
Oh, I think it’s different if the AI is trained on the animated output of just the studio producing the film, rather than a studio using a commercial AI product. But not yet sure how different!
October 28, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Oh, I think it’s different if the AI is trained on the animated output of just the studio producing the film, rather than a studio using a commercial AI product. But not yet sure how different!
The law probably *will* give studios the right to protect that kind of output (pessimistic view) if I had to guess - but probably *shouldn’t* for the reasons above?
That said, the more I learn about current AI the more curmudgeonly I become about it… so my intuitions are suspect!
That said, the more I learn about current AI the more curmudgeonly I become about it… so my intuitions are suspect!
October 28, 2025 at 4:48 PM
The law probably *will* give studios the right to protect that kind of output (pessimistic view) if I had to guess - but probably *shouldn’t* for the reasons above?
That said, the more I learn about current AI the more curmudgeonly I become about it… so my intuitions are suspect!
That said, the more I learn about current AI the more curmudgeonly I become about it… so my intuitions are suspect!
It seems morally fine to me as I think the studio using AI to produce a film hasn’t really got any claim to its output. Maybe if they wrote the programme and fine-tuned it? But it feels that their reliance on other artists in the training undermines their claim to the IP of the AI film.
October 28, 2025 at 4:46 PM
It seems morally fine to me as I think the studio using AI to produce a film hasn’t really got any claim to its output. Maybe if they wrote the programme and fine-tuned it? But it feels that their reliance on other artists in the training undermines their claim to the IP of the AI film.
Legally, or morally? I suspect the answers diverge…
October 28, 2025 at 9:41 AM
Legally, or morally? I suspect the answers diverge…
Sexy Grice conventional implicatures.
October 25, 2025 at 1:17 PM
Sexy Grice conventional implicatures.
Is there a distinction between a slur term and a slurring utterance under the surface here? Given the use in Killjoys and the uses targeting disabled people, it seems to function semantically as a slur term even if it doesn’t count as a slurring utterance when directed towards AI?
October 8, 2025 at 7:07 AM
Is there a distinction between a slur term and a slurring utterance under the surface here? Given the use in Killjoys and the uses targeting disabled people, it seems to function semantically as a slur term even if it doesn’t count as a slurring utterance when directed towards AI?
But… isn’t the first thesis of the paper that the first thesis of the paper is The Thesis?
October 7, 2025 at 7:28 AM
But… isn’t the first thesis of the paper that the first thesis of the paper is The Thesis?
Gotta love that policies are reported before they’ve been announced before they’ve been consulted on before they’ve been developed. Silly me thinking that the process should go the other way round…
September 26, 2025 at 8:23 AM
Gotta love that policies are reported before they’ve been announced before they’ve been consulted on before they’ve been developed. Silly me thinking that the process should go the other way round…
Good news for those who can’t afford a smartphone, now they won’t be allowed to work!
September 26, 2025 at 6:54 AM
Good news for those who can’t afford a smartphone, now they won’t be allowed to work!
Because it will be assumed by the intended audience that they refused to review it because woke, rather than that it reflects the quality of the book? You hear ‘26 reviewers thought it was rubbish’, they hear ‘the trans lobby tried to cancel the book’.
September 24, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Because it will be assumed by the intended audience that they refused to review it because woke, rather than that it reflects the quality of the book? You hear ‘26 reviewers thought it was rubbish’, they hear ‘the trans lobby tried to cancel the book’.
If the students aren’t there at 10 past do I get to leave?
September 23, 2025 at 7:46 PM
If the students aren’t there at 10 past do I get to leave?
Centring student voice in the classroom but the voice is mostly asking ‘Is Joe coming back’?
September 23, 2025 at 9:09 AM
Centring student voice in the classroom but the voice is mostly asking ‘Is Joe coming back’?
Is Queens of the Bronze Age too obvious?
September 22, 2025 at 5:59 AM
Is Queens of the Bronze Age too obvious?
‘If you use the Rights-Violation-Bad-Utility-Bullshit-and-Bigotry-Machine according to these rules, then you’re doing *responsible* rights violations, bad utility, bullshit, and bigotry!’
September 20, 2025 at 11:08 AM
‘If you use the Rights-Violation-Bad-Utility-Bullshit-and-Bigotry-Machine according to these rules, then you’re doing *responsible* rights violations, bad utility, bullshit, and bigotry!’
Side note: sociologists might have looked into this as well/more closely.
July 30, 2025 at 10:36 AM
Side note: sociologists might have looked into this as well/more closely.
I talk briefly about something in this ballpark, but it’s more about what happens when one conversation breaks up and those people join other conversations. Lmk if it would be useful.
July 30, 2025 at 10:35 AM
I talk briefly about something in this ballpark, but it’s more about what happens when one conversation breaks up and those people join other conversations. Lmk if it would be useful.
Also Neri Marsili and Lucy McDonald’s work springs to mind.
July 26, 2025 at 7:16 AM
Also Neri Marsili and Lucy McDonald’s work springs to mind.
And some of the boundaries are more porous than others - Phil language / linguistics and pol Phil / pol theory are at least at the intersection indistinguishable. Luckily I’m not editor of a journal having to make those kinds of calls!
July 17, 2025 at 9:35 PM
And some of the boundaries are more porous than others - Phil language / linguistics and pol Phil / pol theory are at least at the intersection indistinguishable. Luckily I’m not editor of a journal having to make those kinds of calls!
How much Latin does the general populace of academic philosophers know?
July 7, 2025 at 7:05 AM
How much Latin does the general populace of academic philosophers know?