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Alasdair Craig

@alasdaircraig.bsky.social

611 followers 567 following 195 posts

Philosophy/Consciousness/History/Books Editor, Institute of Art & Ideas – @iai.tv Freelance for Hurst Pub – @hurstpublishers.bsky.social Instructor, Philosophy of Mind – Horizoninspires.com DPhil, Philosophy, University of Oxford 📍Edinburgh, Scotland

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Alasdair Craig @alasdaircraig.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Rachel Cusk's Life of M has been so poorly received that I can't help feeling it must be worth a read

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Alasdair Craig @alasdaircraig.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

The quantum measurement problem arose due to an enormous blunder by Schrödinger, argues physicist Antony Valentini today for @iai.tv. De Broglie's wave-governed particle trajectories were right, but Schrödinger needlessly wrote particles out of the story. iai.tv/articles/sch... #philsci #physics

Schrödinger’s blunder created the quantum measurement problem

<p><em>Quantum mechanics is seen as challenging the idea that science provides objective descriptions of reality outside of our minds. The “measurement problem” seems to suggest that the act of observ...

Alasdair Craig @alasdaircraig.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Democracy cannot exist without liberalism, argues Philip Pettit today for @iai.tv. To equate democracy with simple electoral majoritarianism is a mistake, because citizens need free speech, rule of law, etc., to be able to challenge their government - iai.tv/articles/dem... #politics #democracy

Democracy without liberalism is not democracy

<p><em>Chinese philosopher Tongdong Bai recently argued in IAI News that democracy and liberalism are fundamentally at odds. Electoral majorities often support illiberal policies, and this, he thinks,...

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Alasdair Craig @alasdaircraig.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

The universe seems fine-tuned for life, leading to arguments for an infinite multiverse. But physicist Jeff Shainline argues today that the universe also seems fine-tuned for technology, & this points towards a radically different sort of explanation for fine-tuning #philsci iai.tv/articles/the...

The universe is fine-tuned for technology, not just life

<p><em>The universe seems to be fine-tuned for life. Were nature’s constants even slightly different, life wouldn’t exist. To explain this, scientists reach for bizarre ideas, like an infinite multive...

Alasdair Craig @alasdaircraig.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

I'm interviewing Carlo Rovelli tomorrow at 17.20 UTC+1. Carlo will then join 3 philosophers for a debate on the current state of cosmology, before philosopher Jenann Ismael gives a talk on "why there can be no ultimate map of the universe." Audience Q&A included. All on Zoom. Tickets: iai.tv/live

IAI Live July: Catching Sight of the Universe

The world's leading thinkers in live debates on the critical issues of our time. Free to all IAI Premium Live subscribers.

Alasdair Craig @alasdaircraig.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

Manfred Frank, a leading figure of the Heidelberg School of philosophy, has written a wonderful explanation of Fichte's "original insight," namely that #consciousness involves a kind of self-awareness which dissolves any subject-object distinction - iai.tv/articles/con... #philmind #philsky

Consciousness is not an object we can observe

<p><em>Physicist Carlo Rovelli recently proclaimed that consciousness is just another physical thing, while materialist philosophers argue that consciousness is simply one brain state observing anothe...

Alasdair Craig @alasdaircraig.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

"What Venus Flytraps, ChatGPT, and psychedelics reveal about consciousness" - my interview with Michael Pollan about his new book, A World Appears: A Journey Into Consciousness, is now on YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrOx... #consciousness #philmind

What Venus Flytraps, ChatGPT, and LSD reveal about consciousness | Michael Pollan

YouTube video by The Institute of Art and Ideas

Alasdair Craig @alasdaircraig.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

Can time's flow be saved from Einstein's block universe? Philosopher Samuele Iaquinto argues for Fragmentalism, first proposed by Kit Fine, which saves time's flow by fragmenting it into multiple streams, each of which is absolute. Metaphysics to the rescue! iai.tv/articles/sha... #philsky #philsci

Shattering Einstein’s block universe rescues the flow of time

<p><em>Einstein’s theory of relativity appears to drain time of its most familiar feature: its flow. If spacetime is a four-dimensional block, as many physicists argue, then there is no privileged pre...

Alasdair Craig @alasdaircraig.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

Peter Godfrey-Smith draws on fresh research on bees & jellyfish to argue that consciousness arises from electrical oscillations across cell membranes - and these are unlikely to be reproducible in artificial hardware. This was a very fun piece to work on! iai.tv/articles/stu... #philsky #philmind

Studies on animal minds suggest consciousness is not computation

<p><em>We’re often seduced by the idea that the mind is a computer, and that consciousness is just a matter of running the right code. But philosopher <strong>Peter Godfrey-Smith</strong>, renowned fo...

Alasdair Craig @alasdaircraig.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

This may be unpopular, but I'd urge people to read this piece (by philosophers Angie Pepper and Richard Healey), arguing that pet ownership is unjust and ultimately that the whole institution should be abolished: iai.tv/articles/the... #philsky #ethics #animalethics #animalrights #poltheory

The unjust power dynamics of pet ownership

<p><em>Pet ownership is surging, with the number of pet cats and dogs outstripping the number of human children in countries from the US to Japan. Yet we rarely ask whether pet keeping is morally just...

Alasdair Craig @alasdaircraig.bsky.social · 01/03/2026

I'll be interviewing Glenn Greenwald tomorrow (2 March) live at 17.20 UTC, & there'll be time for audience questions. I'll ask him about Iran, the rules-based international order, MAGA's foreign policy, and free speech. It's ticketed – you can buy your ticket here: iai.tv/live/the-end...

IAI Live March | The End of Ideology

'The West', despite its name, was an ideological alliance of shared values and belief in liberal democracy, rather than an alliance based on geography. But, things are changing. Geographical spheres o...

Alasdair Craig @alasdaircraig.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

The "sovereign individual" fantasy of various Silicon Valley types is self-defeating, argues James I. Porter, invoking Bataille and Heraclitus – iai.tv/articles/the... #philsky #politics #trump #Thiel

The "sovereign individual" is a dangerous fantasy

<p><em>From Peter Thiel to Donald Trump, the ideal of the “sovereign individual” who bends reality to their will is newly dominant. Technology will soon enable a “bizarre genius” to live free from all...

Alasdair Craig @alasdaircraig.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

Is perception a controlled hallucination & how should we define the borders of a mind? My interview with neuroscientist Karl Friston is now up at @iai.tv. We talk about the free energy principle, perception, flying elephants, action, sense data & #psychiatry iai.tv/video/how-br... #philmind #philsky

How brains construct reality, with Karl Friston

We tend to think of the mind as something that passively perceives an objective world. But perception is active, inferential, and deeply shaped by uncertainty. In this interview with the Institute of ...

Alasdair Craig @alasdaircraig.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

To understand how knowledge is possible, we must change how we think about reality's nature, argues Danielle Macbeth for @iai.tv. Working on this piece w/ Danielle helped me better understand how she avoids falling into straightforward Idealism – iai.tv/articles/the... #philsky #philmind #philosophy

The divide between mind and world is shallower than we suppose

<p><em>From Kant to Derrida, philosophers have argued that we are prisoners of our own subjectivity, forever cut off from reality as it is in itself. But philosopher <strong>Danielle Macbeth</strong> ...

Alasdair Craig @alasdaircraig.bsky.social · 30/01/2026

I'll be interviewing biologist Michael Levin (@drmichaellevin.bsky.social) on Mon 2 Feb, live at 17.20GMT, followed by a live debate w/ Mike, Lisa Feldman Barrett & Adam Frank, & a talk by Christof Koch. There'll be audience Q&A. Sign up: iai.tv/live/science... #philsky #biology #philmind #psychsky

COMING SOON: IAI Live February

From the origins of life to the limits of consciousness, from AI to the future of democracy — the world’s biggest questions demand bold new thinking. At IAI.tv, philosophers, scientists, artists, and ...

Alasdair Craig @alasdaircraig.bsky.social · 27/01/2026

Leibniz's metaphysics of monads – solitary islands of consciousness – should be the blueprint for modern panpsychism, argues philosopher S. Siddarth today for @iai.tv. This one was fun to work on! #philsky #philosophy #panpsychism #consciousness #philmind iai.tv/articles/lei...

Leibniz provides the blueprint for panpsychism

<p><em>The panpsychist claim that reality's fundamental constituents are conscious is increasingly popular, but it faces an unanswerable question: how can conscious fragments fuse to make up complex m...

Alasdair Craig @alasdaircraig.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

Does William James's "specious present" provide a reason to think consciousness is non-physical? Lyu Zhou argues that it does today for @iai.tv – iai.tv/articles/con... #philsky #philmind #philosophy

Consciousness breaks from the physical world by keeping the past alive

<p><em>Conscious experiences of change, from seeing a bird take flight to listening to a melody, cannot be broken down into ever smaller units of experience. They must inhabit what William James calle...

Alasdair Craig @alasdaircraig.bsky.social · 09/12/2025

Sebastian Rödl writes brilliantly on why metaphysics doesn't make progress, yet is unavoidable and essential, for @iai.tv today. It was great fun to work with Sebastian on this article! iai.tv/articles/met... #philsky #philosophy #metaphysics

Metaphysics is a strange but essential project

<p><em>Metaphysics is both irresistible and absurd. It promises to reveal fundamental reality, yet makes no progress, forever circling back to millennia-old questions. Metaphysics cannot progress like...

Alasdair Craig @alasdaircraig.bsky.social · 26/11/2025

Everyone should read this article and think about what they can do to reverse these trends (well, not the serial killer ones obviously) - www.experimental-history.com/p/the-declin...

experimental-history.com

The Decline of Deviance

Where has all the weirdness gone?

Alasdair Craig @alasdaircraig.bsky.social · 19/11/2025

We set up our economies & societies to continually multiply choice. After all, more choices = more freedom, right? Wrong, says psychologist Barry Schwartz, who argues that constraints are necessary for happiness. Here's my interview with him – iai.tv/articles/too... #psychology #socialpsychology

Too much choice makes us less free | Barry Schwartz

Psychologist Barry Schwartz explores why striving for the best can make us unhappy. In conversation with Alasdair Craig, he explains how the abundance of choice in modern life leads to paralysis, disa...

Alasdair Craig @alasdaircraig.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

Use-case for AI as a writer. A quick way to exorcise cliche and small-c conservatism: after you've written your first draft, ask AI to write something on the same topic; compare your draft to the AI piece, and cut everything from your draft that appears in the AI piece. #writing #books #AI

Alasdair Craig @alasdaircraig.bsky.social · 29/10/2025

We often caricature Chinese Confucianism as prizing conformism & obedience to tradition. But Justin Tiwald shows that independence of thought has long been central to Confucian ethics - iai.tv/articles/the... #philsky #ethics #China #Confucianism #philosophy @iai.tv

The radical independent thinking in Chinese philosophy | Justin Tiwald

Alasdair Craig @alasdaircraig.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

The key to quantum gravity may lie in understanding the fundamental limits of observation argues Berkeley National Lab physicist Daniel Carney today for @iai.tv - iai.tv/articles/if-... #physics #philsci #quantum

If we look too hard for reality, we’ll fall into a black hole | Daniel Carney

Alasdair Craig @alasdaircraig.bsky.social · 21/10/2025

We like to think belief & emotion belong in different boxes – one ruled by evidence & truth, the other by feelings and moods. This is a mistake argues philosopher Miriam McCormick for @iai.tv today: Belief is an emotion – iai.tv/articles/the... #philsky #philmind #psychology

The divide between belief and emotion is an illusion | Miriam McCormick

Alasdair Craig @alasdaircraig.bsky.social · 14/10/2025

John Heil on why talk of "emergence" by scientists and philosophers is unhelpful – iai.tv/articles/eme... #philsky #philsci #physics #biology #philmind

Emergence explains nothing and is bad science | John Heil

Alasdair Craig @alasdaircraig.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

I edit many public-facing science articles & I've learned that it's much harder to present biology in an accessible way to non-specialists than physics. It always seems to involve way more hard-to-paraphrase specialist vocabulary & complex details that can't be omitted #philsci #physics #biology

Alasdair Craig @alasdaircraig.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

Ooh, just found this beautiful Robert Louis Stevenson edition by Edinburgh’s own @typewronger.bsky.social. I grew up at Murrayfield, so the contents are enticing #booksky #books #Scotland

Alasdair Craig @alasdaircraig.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

Werner Heisenberg meets William Blake in Mark Vernon's new article for @iai.tv – Physicist & poet alike warn of the danger of viewing the world only through idealising models, losing the vitality of direct encounters with reality. bit.ly/47eI8u3 #philsky #physics #poetry #philsci

Heisenberg meets William Blake: The danger of science's "single vision" | Mark Vernon

Alasdair Craig @alasdaircraig.bsky.social · 18/09/2025

A write-up of my interview with Karl Friston can be read here. Dreaming, selfhood, Markov blankets, consciousness, known illusions, and ofc perception all discussed - iai.tv/articles/rea... #philsky #psychology #neuroscience #cogsci #perception

Reality is a creation of consciousness | Karl Friston

Alasdair Craig @alasdaircraig.bsky.social · 04/09/2025

Panpsychism, Bergson, and renovating our concepts of the environment (it's made of processes rather than objects) – my interview with Wahida Khandker is up at @iai.tv now. iai.tv/video/organi... #philsky #environment

Organisms are processes, not things, with Wahida Khandker

We tend to think of the world as divided into bits and things. From microscopic atoms to massive stars to everyday objects like books and chairs, the view that the world is carved up is deeply embedde...

Alasdair Craig @alasdaircraig.bsky.social · 01/09/2025

Consciousness can't be uploaded and digital immortality is a metaphysical mirage – so argues Bill Egginton today for @iai.tv iai.tv/articles/con... #philsky #consciousness #philmind

Consciousness can't be uploaded: Why digital immortality is a metaphysical mirage | William Egginton

Alasdair Craig @alasdaircraig.bsky.social · 27/08/2025

"When language is utilized solely for the purpose of communication, speakers often do not perceive 'languages' or 'dialects' as distinct entities at all." Vuk Vukotić today for @iai.tv, on the artificiality of distinctions between languages - iai.tv/articles/lan... #Linguistics #philsky

Languages are social tools, not windows onto reality | Vuk Vukotić

Alasdair Craig @alasdaircraig.bsky.social · 16/08/2025

Another day, another recommendation of a book about befriending octopuses #booksky

Alasdair Craig @alasdaircraig.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

Forget free will as it’s defined in the Western philosophical tradition. Philosopher Brian Bruya turns to Daoist classics like the Zhuangzi to argue that the most profound human action happens without rational reflection or deliberation bit.ly/41DWAsl #philsky #mindsky

China’s radical philosophy of action and the self | Brian Bruya

Explore how Chinese philosophy redefines human action as a spontaneous process in harmony with nature, challenging Western ideals of rational choice.

Alasdair Craig @alasdaircraig.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

Neuroscientist @nicolecrust.bsky.social argues here that by treating brains as complex systems, neuroscientists are finally making progress on mental health treatment, including utilising psychedelics to enhance brain plasticity as part of therapy - bit.ly/4lkS0pR #philmind #neuroskyence #NeuroSky

Neuroscience needs a new paradigm: the brain is not a machine | Nicolee Rust

Alasdair Craig @alasdaircraig.bsky.social · 04/08/2025

My interview with Jessica Frazier, professor of theology at Oxford University and fellow at the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, is now available. We discuss Indian philosophy, monism, and the nature of the self, among other things - iai.tv/video/indian... #philsky #theology #Indianphilosophy

Indian philosophy and the search for unity with Jessica Frazier

In our everyday lives we act as though we are all separate individuals, but is this really the case? Jessica Frazer argues reality is ultimately unified. She argues this philosophy can change the way ...

Alasdair Craig @alasdaircraig.bsky.social · 31/07/2025

ANY theory of consciousness will have bizarre implications that contravene our commonsense picture of the world, argues @eschwitz.bsky.social for @iai.tv: bit.ly/3U3pVbF #philsky #psychsky #philmind #philosophyofmind

Consciousness, cosmology, and the collapse of common sense | Eric Schwitzgebel

Alasdair Craig @alasdaircraig.bsky.social · 27/07/2025

My grandpa had a story about how the first time some of his friends ate a banana, they ate the skin, not realising you could peel it. I just read the same story in a book about an early-20th C. Greek immigrant to the US, presented with a banana for the 1st time. I wonder how common this mistake was!

Reposted by Alasdair Craig

Aidan McGlynn @aidanmcglynn.bsky.social · 15/07/2025

Utterly unforgivable

Alasdair Craig @alasdaircraig.bsky.social · 10/07/2025

You know that thing that happens when you repeat the same word over and over and over to yourself, and it starts to seem unfamiliar and meaningless? I just learned that this is known as 'semantic satiation', and I find that phrase immensely satisfying.

Alasdair Craig @alasdaircraig.bsky.social · 10/07/2025

As a Patricia Highsmith fan, I found this memoir of her final days both extremely revealing and extremely disturbing - yalereview.org/article/work... #booksky

My Harrowing Months as Patricia Highsmith’s Assistant

Elena Gosalvez Blanco recalls her time as Patricia Highsmith's assistant in the novelist's final months.

Alasdair Craig @alasdaircraig.bsky.social · 08/07/2025

On science's broken peer review & funding models: pathbreaking ideas shut out, billions of $ wasted, & scientists' time diverted away from #research. Jamie Shaw suggests a universal research fund &/or lottery system for funding instead – bit.ly/3GDFQtU #philsci #philsky #AcademiaSky #MedSky #science

The high priests of science are holding it hostage

Alasdair Craig @alasdaircraig.bsky.social · 20/06/2025

Something deeper than General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics must be the common explanation of both, and minds play a fundamental role in constructing physical reality from this primordial "pre-physics," argues Dean Rickles for @iai.tv – iai.tv/articles/to-... #philsci #physics #philsky

To solve quantum gravity, we must go beyond the physical | Dean Rickles

Alasdair Craig @alasdaircraig.bsky.social · 17/06/2025

A fresh #AI critique: Biologists Denis & Ray Noble argue true intelligence requires liquid-based computation, which would be far more flexible than silicon-based AI. Water, they say, is an unbeatable source of stochasticity, which organisms harness at all functional levels: bit.ly/3HLvIzC #philsky

Water, not silicon, has to be the basis of true AI | Denis Noble

Alasdair Craig @alasdaircraig.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

Really interesting to see Alyssa Ney suggesting that we should pursue a sort of combination of Everettian many-worlds and Wheeler's participatory universe interpretations of quantum mechanics here. Not sure I totally follow - www.nature.com/articles/d41... #philsky #philsci

Do our observations make reality happen?

Finally answering the most-vexed question in quantum theory might mean redefining what is real.

Reposted by Alasdair Craig

Josh Habgood-Coote @impractknow.bsky.social · 11/06/2025

Kieran Setiya is not convinced by Christoph Schuringa's political history of analytic philosophy lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-...

lareviewofbooks.org

The Politics of Apoliticism | Los Angeles Review of Books

Kieran Setiya reviews Christoph Schuringa’s “A Social History of Analytic Philosophy.”

Alasdair Craig @alasdaircraig.bsky.social · 09/06/2025

Can someone fluent in the language of #emergence explain where John Heil goes wrong in 'The Last Word on Emergence', which seems to me to expose (more clearly than I ever could) the uselessness of the notion in philosophy - philpapers.org/archive/HEIT... #philsky

Reposted by Alasdair Craig

EdinburghMinute.com @edinburghminute.com · 29/05/2025

@newshoundai.bsky.social with 27,000 posts you are massively ADDING to the noise when your website states your mission is to cut through it.

Alasdair Craig @alasdaircraig.bsky.social · 29/05/2025

First time in London for while - wow, there’s no nightlife midweek at all, is there? Midnight and only McDonald’s is open

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Alasdair Craig @alasdaircraig.bsky.social · 22/05/2025

The kaleidoscopic metaphysics of Chinese Huayan philosophy by @nicholaos.bsky.social‬ for @iai.tv – v. interesting on the relationship between translating texts & constructing metaphysics iai.tv/articles/chi... #philsky #philosophy #Buddhism

Chinese philosophy's attack on reality's foundations | Nicholaos Jones

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