iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

David Ellis @davidellis95.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

in fields such as xenolonguistics and philosophy. What is alien language? If we encountered it, would we understand it? Join us for a dialogue on these topics between philosopher David Ellis and science fiction author Eli K.P. William. [2/2]

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David Ellis @davidellis95.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

looking forward to having a panel discussion with @elikpwilliam.com tonight at @flightsoffoundry.bsky.social about alien languages! Alien language has been depicted in numerous speculative fiction stories. In recent years, it has also become the subject of serious academic study [1/2]

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David Ellis @davidellis95.bsky.social · 07/06/2026

While I agree that the creation of art is itself a valuable thing, I don’t think that a person is objectively wrong to judge the output as of equal value as an AI output. Maybe some artists create work that just isn’t that great, despite how valuable the experience of its creation is to them

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David Ellis @davidellis95.bsky.social · 07/06/2026

But what about those who don't care about those things? Sure, the creator cares, and plenty of others do; but there are people who don't care about the blood, sweat, and tears that went into some artwork. Are they wrong?

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David Ellis @davidellis95.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

Will it get to a stage where the work of both are indistinguishable?

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David Ellis @davidellis95.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

AI doesn't have to 'replace us', but it will do if we let it. And we will let it if we close ourselves off from it. #AI #workplace #teaching

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David Ellis @davidellis95.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

AI can help address these areas and give us the time and space to do what we are most passionate about: teaching, researching, and helping students reach their full potential. We can't be doing that if we're manually rewriting 8 reading lists.

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David Ellis @davidellis95.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

There are plenty of tasks that we do as teachers (I'm speaking just from my perspective as a lecturer) that, frankly, we treat as 'robotic work'. Let's not kid ourselves; we all complain about certain tasks for precisely that reason!

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David Ellis @davidellis95.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

Controversial view: AI isn't 'the problem'. Developing the mindset that it is, and doing everything we can to ban it makes it a problem. Yes, it's frightening and disruptive, but AI isn't going away. And we need not go away because of it *if we use it for augmenting work practice*.

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David Ellis @davidellis95.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

Looking forward to spending this weekend presenting on 5 online panels at #balticon @balticon.bsky.social. I'll be moderating & chatting. Also excited to discuss my book (Philosophy on First Contact - @bloomsburybooksuk.bsky.social) with a great group of sci-fi novelists and academics 🛸

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David Ellis @davidellis95.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

Finished at last 📚 And freed myself from hauling this around under the pretence that I might read it on the train…

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David Ellis @davidellis95.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

Where better to be writing about aliens and philosophy than Leeds Uni library? 🛸 Currently pondering how alien an alien’s epistemology could be 🤔

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David Ellis @davidellis95.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

Ever wondered what Wittgenstein means when describing religion as a language game and form of life? In this video with Timeline Theological Videos, I give an explanation by introducing Wittgenstein's later approach to religion! www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xs44...

youtube.com

WITTGENSTEIN & RELIGIOUS BELIEF By DAVID ELLIS

YouTube video by Timeline Theological Videos

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Reposted by David Ellis

Eli K.P. William @elikpwilliam.com · 02/03/2026

watch the recording of me reading from my latest translation, The Traveling Tree by Michio Hoshino, livestreamed March 1st from Human Arts Studio in Tsukuba. Then treat yourself to the smorgasbord of other readings. youtu.be/cJ3LgHNQdh8?... #japanese #literature #translation #reading #booksky

youtu.be

Japanese Literature in English - Book Readings

YouTube video by Human Arts Studio

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Reposted by David Ellis

Eli K.P. William @elikpwilliam.com · 18/02/2026

My latest translation, The Traveling Tree by Michio Hoshino, has received its first review, in the current issue of Literary Review! literaryreview.co.uk/into-the-wil... #japanlit #japanese #literature #essay #collection #nature #writing

literaryreview.co.uk

Tim Hornyak - Into the Wild

Tim Hornyak: Into the Wild - The Traveling Tree: Lessons from a Nomadic Life by Michio Hoshino (Translated from Japanese by Eli K P William)

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Reposted by David Ellis

Nat Dyer @natjdyer.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

I'll be talking about economics, imagination, and 'Ricardo's Dream' at Goldsmiths Uni in London on 12 March at 4pm. Come along if you're in town! Cheers @goldsmithsuol.bsky.social www.gold.ac.uk/calendar/?id...

gold.ac.uk

Ricardo's Dream by Nat Dyer

Book Launch

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Reposted by David Ellis

Eli K.P. William @elikpwilliam.com · 04/02/2026

I'm delighted to announce the American release of my latest translation: The Travelling Tree (旅をする木) by Michio Hoshino!!! Published by Gaia (Hachette) in the UK this fall and now in the USA today! #japaneseliterature #travel #essay #memoir #translation #USA #release #booksky

amazon.com

The Traveling Tree: Lessons from a Nomadic Life

Buy The Traveling Tree: Lessons from a Nomadic Life on Amazon.com ✓ FREE SHIPPING on qualified orders

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David Ellis @davidellis95.bsky.social · 30/01/2026

Thanks!🙏 I hope you’re prepared for me turning all our philosophical conversations into something alien based! 🛸

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David Ellis @davidellis95.bsky.social · 23/01/2026

📚It’s official! I’ve signed a contract with @bloomsburybooksuk.bsky.social for my first book, Philosophy on First Contact 🎉 This will explore the philosophical aspects of our first contact with intelligent extraterrestrial life Can’t wait to start - Stay tuned for more alien philosophy! 🛸

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David Ellis @davidellis95.bsky.social · 26/11/2025

🎉I’m pleased to share that Zoheir Bagheri Noaparast and I are co-editing a new volume, Wittgenstein: On Certainty and Religion, with Palgrave Macmillan. This collection is one of the first to explore how On Certainty’s themes relate to our understanding and study of religion

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David Ellis @davidellis95.bsky.social · 18/10/2025

Is religious fictionalism compatible with Wittgenstein’s view of religion? I answer that question with my co-author, Zoheir Bagheri Noaparast, in our paper that published today (open access) in Studia Theologica. doi.org/10.1080/0039...

doi.org

Can Atheists Play Along? Wittgensteinian Challenges to Religious Fictionalism

All atheists think that the central claims of religion are false, but not all atheists think that religion is useless. Some believe that, despite its falsehood, religious language and rituals are p...

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David Ellis @davidellis95.bsky.social · 15/10/2025

Should we tax companies that displace workers through AI? I give some reasons for doing so in my recent paper: social-epistemology.com/2025/10/13/t... This paper relates to a recent publication I co-authored with Hefin Gwilym, Dave Beck, Edward Thomas Jones, and Sara Closs-Davies

social-epistemology.com

The Case for Taxing Organisations that Displace Workers with AI, David Ellis

TThe advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not inherently problematic. Indeed, Generative AI (AI that can creatively generate outputs, like images, poems, and music) and Large Language Models...

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Reposted by David Ellis

Eli K.P. William @elikpwilliam.com · 18/09/2025

Here it is! My Japanese fiction writing debut! The first short story I’ve ever written from start to finish in my second language! My story “フォトボマー” (Photo Bomber), is in this anthology “恐怖とSF”（Fear and Sci-fi), released today by Hayakawa, Japan’s oldest and largest SF publisher. #Japanese #scifi

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David Ellis @davidellis95.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

New co-authored paper with Zoheir Bagheri Noaparast just published open access at Philosophical Papers. We argue that Wittgenstein dichotomises religion from science, and that his approach is therefore not conducive to a diverse philosophy of religion. doi.org/10.1080/0556...

doi.org

Wittgenstein’s Dichotomy and Religious Diversity

Some philosophers of religion are attracted to Wittgenstein’s claim of approaching religion in a descriptive and non-revisionary manner because they desire greater plurality and diversity of religi...

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David Ellis @davidellis95.bsky.social · 20/08/2025

Had a great time working on this!

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David Ellis @davidellis95.bsky.social · 20/08/2025

Thanks to Dave Beck for inviting me onto a podcast with him and Hefin Gwilym to discuss our recent publication, A Difficult Start for the UK Labour Government, But Time Is Still on Their Side. A clip and a blog that I wrote can be found at: drdavebeck.substack.com/p/tax-the-bo...

drdavebeck.substack.com

Tax the Bots? A Moral Case for AI Accountability & Need for UBI

Part 2 of this weeks blog mini-series.

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David Ellis @davidellis95.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

I've finished, edited & (mostly) settled on what I'll present at this year's BSPR. I discuss why Wittgensteinians think arguments from design don't lead to religious belief & can even be repellent, and suggest how arguments can be changed in light of these criticisms philpapers.org/rec/ELLWAA-3

philpapers.org

David Ellis, Wittgenstein and Arguments from Design - PhilPapers

Among the most popular arguments for God are those from design, which draw from science to argue that the universe is so finely tuned for life that it implies the existence ...

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David Ellis @davidellis95.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

Visited Leeds library again this morning to edit the paper I’m presenting at @ox.ac.uk in September at the British Society for the Philosophy of Religion conference. While there, I spotted what appears to be graffiti from 1893!

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David Ellis @davidellis95.bsky.social · 27/07/2025

Reminder - online conference: *Wittgenstein, On Certainty and Religion* starts tomorrow evening (UK time 18:00)! There’s still time to register your attendance, email d.ellis@leedstrinity.ac.uk for a link). philevents.org/event/show/1... #philosophy #Wittgenstein #conference

philevents.org

Wittgenstein, On Certainty and Religion

Wittgenstein, On Certainty and Religion  Although Wittgenstein did not write extensively about religion, his scattered comments and lecture notes have had a lasting impact on the philosophy of re...

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David Ellis @davidellis95.bsky.social · 24/07/2025

Pleased to say that a co-authored paper with Hefin Gwilym, Dave Beck, Ed Jones and Sara Closs-Davies has published with Wiley’s World Affairs. We review Labour’s first year in office and argue for a tax on companies that displace workers through AI onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

A Difficult Start for the UK Labour Government, But Time Is Still on Their Side

The newly elected Labour Government in the United Kingdom promised change. However, the first 10 months have been disappointing, characterized by misjudged announcements regarding the Winter Fuel All....

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David Ellis @davidellis95.bsky.social · 21/07/2025

I’m co-hosting an online conference: Wittgenstein, On Certainty and Religion, July 28th and 29th. For more info, including schedule & book of abstracts: philevents.org/event/show/1... (to join, email me, d.ellis@leedstrinity.ac.uk for a link) #conference #philosophy #religion #Wittgenstein

philevents.org

Wittgenstein, On Certainty and Religion

Wittgenstein, On Certainty and Religion  Although Wittgenstein did not write extensively about religion, his scattered comments and lecture notes have had a lasting impact on the philosophy of re...

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David Ellis @davidellis95.bsky.social · 20/07/2025

great essay - thanks for engaging with my work, @elikpwilliam.com

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