David Edmonds
@davidedmonds100.bsky.social
Philosopher (Uehiro Oxford), Author (Wittgenstein's Poker, Would You Kill The Fat Man, Parfit, etc.), Podcaster (Philosophy Bites, Social Science Bites). Journalist. Latest book, Death In A Shallow Pond.
Pinned
Moral Thought Experiments, the Shallow Pond and Worcester College Oxford www.templeton.org/news/moral-t...
Moral Thought Experiments and the Shallow Pond
You are walking past a shallow pond when you see a child struggling in the water. There is no one else around—no parent or guardian. You are about to wade in to save the child, when you notice that yo...
www.templeton.org
November 13, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Moral Thought Experiments, the Shallow Pond and Worcester College Oxford www.templeton.org/news/moral-t...
An interview in the New Republic
For @newrepublic.com, @davidedmonds100.bsky.social, author of Death in a Shallow Pond, spoke with Kate Mabus about the effective altruism movement and his new book:
What Happened to Effective Altruism?
A new book recovers the origins of a movement recently championed by Sam Bankman-Fried.
newrepublic.com
November 12, 2025 at 8:44 PM
An interview in the New Republic
Free event Saturday, in Oxford, 11am with @nigelwarburton.bsky.social www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/philosophy...
PHILOSOPHY IN THE BOOKSHOP with David Edmonds
Philosophy and co-host of Philosophy Bites, David Edmonds joins Nigel Warburton to discuss his new book 'Death in a Shallow Pond'
www.eventbrite.co.uk
November 12, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Free event Saturday, in Oxford, 11am with @nigelwarburton.bsky.social www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/philosophy...
Reposted by David Edmonds
Can one child’s life really outweigh another’s? @davidedmonds100.bsky.social’s Death in a Shallow Pond asks the big moral questions and Julian Baggini’s review in @litreview.bsky.social makes them impossible to ignore. Read it here:
Julian Baggini - Ethics of Indifference
Julian Baggini: Ethics of Indifference - Death in a Shallow Pond: A Philosopher, a Drowning Child, and Strangers in Need by David Edmonds
literaryreview.co.uk
November 10, 2025 at 6:32 PM
Can one child’s life really outweigh another’s? @davidedmonds100.bsky.social’s Death in a Shallow Pond asks the big moral questions and Julian Baggini’s review in @litreview.bsky.social makes them impossible to ignore. Read it here:
Fascinating new Philosophy Bites with @edouardmachery.bsky.social on demographic variation in response to thought experiments philosophybites.com/podcast/edou...
Edouard Machery on Variations in Responses to Thought Experiments - Philosophy Bites
Philosophers who use thought experiments often believe their own intutions in response to them are unviersal. But that's not always so. In this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast Edouard Machery ...
philosophybites.com
November 5, 2025 at 9:43 AM
Fascinating new Philosophy Bites with @edouardmachery.bsky.social on demographic variation in response to thought experiments philosophybites.com/podcast/edou...
The latest Social Science Bites is on innate causal thinking www.socialsciencespace.com/about-social...
November 5, 2025 at 9:41 AM
The latest Social Science Bites is on innate causal thinking www.socialsciencespace.com/about-social...
When people complain about how parochial the news is it’s because they choose to follow parochial news. There is an alternative
I do recommend the BBC World Service in the morning. You get to hear about things that are just absent from regular UK news coverage, such as the post-(fixed) elections in Tanzania and the serious violence there atm, with demonstrators shot in large numbers
November 4, 2025 at 10:11 AM
When people complain about how parochial the news is it’s because they choose to follow parochial news. There is an alternative
tomorrow, in Brighton
Tomorrow (4 Nov) at 7:30 pm GMT, attend @brighthink.bsky.social In Conversation to see @davidedmonds100.bsky.social discuss his book, Death in a Shallow Pond, and the birth of effective altruism from Peter Singer's thought experiment.
Get tickets for this in-person event here: hubs.ly/Q03QkzVd0
Get tickets for this in-person event here: hubs.ly/Q03QkzVd0
November 3, 2025 at 2:15 PM
tomorrow, in Brighton
Philosophy, "a field infamous for an intellectual aggression so intense that reducing an interlocutor to tears was long considered a mark of successful debate."
(in New Yorker article about Laurie Paul)
(in New Yorker article about Laurie Paul)
November 3, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Philosophy, "a field infamous for an intellectual aggression so intense that reducing an interlocutor to tears was long considered a mark of successful debate."
(in New Yorker article about Laurie Paul)
(in New Yorker article about Laurie Paul)
Brighton next week
What if saving a life was as simple as wading into a shallow pond?
Join philosopher David Edmonds as he uncovers how one radical idea sparked the movement of effective altruism and changed how we think about doing good.
Link in comments!
@davidedmonds100.bsky.social @princetonupress.bsky.social
Join philosopher David Edmonds as he uncovers how one radical idea sparked the movement of effective altruism and changed how we think about doing good.
Link in comments!
@davidedmonds100.bsky.social @princetonupress.bsky.social
October 30, 2025 at 9:47 AM
Brighton next week
Bristol
Tomorrow (29 Oct) at 7:15 pm GMT, head to St. George's Bristol for a philosophy salon, where @davidedmonds100.bsky.social will be in conversation with Bridget Anderson on his book, Death in a Shallow Pond, and what our duties are to those in need at home and abroad.
Book tickets: buff.ly/0ItyUIz
Book tickets: buff.ly/0ItyUIz
October 28, 2025 at 1:09 PM
Bristol
Brighton
Next week, on 4 Nov at 7:30 pm GMT, attend @brighthink.bsky.social In Conversation to see @davidedmonds100.bsky.social discuss his book, Death in a Shallow Pond, and the birth of effective altruism from Peter Singer's thought experiment.
Get tickets for this in-person event here: hubs.ly/Q03QkzVd0
Get tickets for this in-person event here: hubs.ly/Q03QkzVd0
October 28, 2025 at 1:08 PM
Brighton
Pleased to have made it on to this. www.newyorker.com/best-books-2...
What We’re Reading
Reviews of notable new fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.
www.newyorker.com
October 27, 2025 at 1:54 PM
Pleased to have made it on to this. www.newyorker.com/best-books-2...
Reposted by David Edmonds
It’s here! My first physical copy of my book, out next month. @uchicagopress.bsky.social have a lovely traditional of sending the first copy straight from their offices in branded wrapping paper.
October 26, 2025 at 9:48 AM
It’s here! My first physical copy of my book, out next month. @uchicagopress.bsky.social have a lovely traditional of sending the first copy straight from their offices in branded wrapping paper.
Reposted by David Edmonds
Next week, 29 Oct at 7:15 pm GMT, head to St. George's Bristol for a philosophy salon, where @davidedmonds100.bsky.social will be in conversation with Bridget Anderson on his book, Death in a Shallow Pond, and what our duties are to those in need at home and abroad.
Book tickets: buff.ly/0ItyUIz
Book tickets: buff.ly/0ItyUIz
October 24, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Next week, 29 Oct at 7:15 pm GMT, head to St. George's Bristol for a philosophy salon, where @davidedmonds100.bsky.social will be in conversation with Bridget Anderson on his book, Death in a Shallow Pond, and what our duties are to those in need at home and abroad.
Book tickets: buff.ly/0ItyUIz
Book tickets: buff.ly/0ItyUIz
Review in the New Yorker
In Death in a Shallow Pond, @davidedmonds100.bsky.social "transforms moral inquiry into a high-stakes adventure,” writes @newyorker.com. Check out the Briefly Noted listing:
Briefly Noted Book Reviews
Short reviews of recent releases.
www.newyorker.com
October 23, 2025 at 8:58 AM
Review in the New Yorker
Reposted by David Edmonds
The first chapter of my new short biography of Wittgenstein is free to read at Lit Hub: lithub.com/on-the-simpl...
On the Simple Life of Ludwig Wittgenstein and Philosophy as “Neverending Therapy”
In 1931, at the age of forty-one, Ludwig Wittgenstein mused in his diary that perhaps his name would live on only as the end point of Western philosophy—“like the name of the one who burnt down the…
lithub.com
October 22, 2025 at 3:42 PM
The first chapter of my new short biography of Wittgenstein is free to read at Lit Hub: lithub.com/on-the-simpl...
Long and interesting review in TLS.
I enjoyed David Edmonds' new book on Peter Singer and his influential thought experiment, the "shallow pond". Here's my review, for the TLS
www.the-tls.com/philosophy/c...
www.the-tls.com/philosophy/c...
October 21, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Long and interesting review in TLS.
A test umpire once said, “Jack Hobbes was the greatest batsman I’ve ever seen, though Bradman was greatest run-making machine.” Frank Jackson claims he was making a conceptual mistake. Discuss @davidpapineau.bsky.social
October 17, 2025 at 9:42 AM
A test umpire once said, “Jack Hobbes was the greatest batsman I’ve ever seen, though Bradman was greatest run-making machine.” Frank Jackson claims he was making a conceptual mistake. Discuss @davidpapineau.bsky.social
Reposted by David Edmonds
Tomorrow (October 16th) at 6:15 pm BST, join the How To Academy in welcoming @davidedmonds100.bsky.social, in conversation with Robin Ince, to discuss his book, Death in a Shallow Pond, and explore the complexity of Peter Singer's influential philosophical idea.
Learn more: buff.ly/7ewXPdh
Learn more: buff.ly/7ewXPdh
October 15, 2025 at 8:09 AM
Tomorrow (October 16th) at 6:15 pm BST, join the How To Academy in welcoming @davidedmonds100.bsky.social, in conversation with Robin Ince, to discuss his book, Death in a Shallow Pond, and explore the complexity of Peter Singer's influential philosophical idea.
Learn more: buff.ly/7ewXPdh
Learn more: buff.ly/7ewXPdh
Reposted by David Edmonds
Congratulations to Joel Mokyr for winning the Nobel prize for economics.
Learn more about this year's winners and listen to Joel's interview on our Social Science Bites podcast with @davidedmonds100.bsky.social in 2022: www.socialsciencespace.com/2025/10/we-s...
Learn more about this year's winners and listen to Joel's interview on our Social Science Bites podcast with @davidedmonds100.bsky.social in 2022: www.socialsciencespace.com/2025/10/we-s...
We See Economic Growth Differently Thanks to the 2025 Nobelists in Economics - Social Science Space
What makes some countries rich and others poor? Is there any action a country can take to improve living standards for its […]
www.socialsciencespace.com
October 14, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Congratulations to Joel Mokyr for winning the Nobel prize for economics.
Learn more about this year's winners and listen to Joel's interview on our Social Science Bites podcast with @davidedmonds100.bsky.social in 2022: www.socialsciencespace.com/2025/10/we-s...
Learn more about this year's winners and listen to Joel's interview on our Social Science Bites podcast with @davidedmonds100.bsky.social in 2022: www.socialsciencespace.com/2025/10/we-s...
Thursday night, if you're in London... howtoacademy.com/events/shoul...
16th October | Should You Save a Child From Drowning in a Pond?
The author of Wittgenstein’s Poker and host of Philosophy Bites, David Edmonds, joins us to explore Peter Singer’s controversial and wildly influential ‘drowning child’ thought experiment.
howtoacademy.com
October 14, 2025 at 7:24 AM
Thursday night, if you're in London... howtoacademy.com/events/shoul...
Statistically, if you're an economist interviewed by Social Science Bites, you have about a one in three chance of winning a Nobel Prize. Congrats to Joel Mokyr www.socialsciencespace.com/2022/01/joel...
Joel Mokyr on Economic Lessons from the Past - Social Science Space
In this podcast, Northwestern University's Joel , Mokyr tells interviewer Dave Edmonds, “I use economics to understand history, and I use history to understand economics.”
www.socialsciencespace.com
October 13, 2025 at 12:27 PM
Statistically, if you're an economist interviewed by Social Science Bites, you have about a one in three chance of winning a Nobel Prize. Congrats to Joel Mokyr www.socialsciencespace.com/2022/01/joel...
Q.84 Which philosopher wrote. “Raisins may be the best part of a cake, but a bag of raisins is not better than a cake”?
Q.83 Which philosopher’s father was the first CIA operative killed in action:
Q.82 Which philosopher was the first female fellow of All Souls, Oxford, about whom the Warden told Derek Parfit, “she is just perfect-aside from the one thing she can’t do anything about.”
October 12, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Q.84 Which philosopher wrote. “Raisins may be the best part of a cake, but a bag of raisins is not better than a cake”?