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Finn Thwaite

@finnthwaite.bsky.social
42 followers 90 following 35 posts

World's only solipsist.

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Finn Thwaite @finnthwaite.bsky.social · 16h
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British Journal for the Philosophy of Science @thebjps.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
If you missed this year's BSPS annual conference, fear not! By the power of technology, we bring you Eleanor Knox's keynote talk, 'The Scale (and Context) Relativity of Spacetime Structure' youtu.be/pAQVXHcZXiY #philsci #philsky
youtu.be
Eleanor Knox, 'The Scale (and Context) Relativity of Spacetime Structure'
Keynote address delivered in July 2026 at the annual conference of the British Society for the Philosophy of Science #philsci
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Adrian Currie @adrian-currie.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Methods in the Philosophy of Science: A User's Guide, edited by the inestimable @phieveigl.bsky.social (and me!), has 27 chapters from super-cool philosophers of science explaining how they do their thing, and is now open access! Our baby is free! #philsci direct.mit.edu/books/oa-edi...
direct.mit.edu
Methods in the Philosophy of Science: A User's Guide
A guidebook to methods and methodology, encouraging deeper engagement across the philosophy of science and beyond.The last twenty years have seen multiple
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Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
if it took you 5 seconds of contemplation to think of an alternative you should take at least another 5-10 to at least consider the possibility that it at least crossed the minds of 1 or 2 of the people who dedicate their lives and research careers to dealing with the problems we post about on here
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Finn Thwaite @finnthwaite.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
I had one who "accidentally forgot to remove" the full PDFs from a link that I was directed to by him
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Eric Schwitzgebel @eschwitz.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
The Summer Illusion (repost) I’ll get all that work at home done AND all that research AND I’ll have plenty of time to relax. Of course of course! schwitzsplinters.blogspot.com/2026/08/the-...
schwitzsplinters.blogspot.com
The Summer Illusion (repost)
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British Journal for the Philosophy of Science @thebjps.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Al Wilson introduces the second keynote of #BSPS2026: Eleanor Knox, ‘The Scale and Context-Relativity of Spacetime Structure’ #philsci #philsky
A man and a woman stand in front of a PowerPoint presentation
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DougExeter @dougexeter.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
haha, thats a great post. unfortunately you phrased it in a way that allowed me, a moron, to misunderstand it
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Sean Carroll @seanmcarroll.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Unitary evolution is bouba. Wave function collapse is kiki.
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Croatian Journal of Philosophy @crojphil.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
The newest issue of the Croatian Journal of Philosophy (vol. 26, no. 76) kicks off with a special issue on The Behavioral and Ethical Consequences of Large Language Models (three articles), along with four standalone articles. All articles are open access, free of charge. #philsky
cjp.ifzg.hr
Archive - Croatian Journal of Philosophy
Current Issue — Vol. 26 No. 76 The Behavioral and Ethical Consequencesof Large Language Models Enactive Problem Solving and Chatbot Architectures Riccardo Viale and Shaun Gallagher The Attribution of ...
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Nino Kadic @ninokadic.com · 22/06/2026
My new publication, "Tallis’s Take on Panpsychism: A Thorough Assessment", is out in Palgrave’s Companion to the Philosophy of Raymond Tallis. I look at Tallis’s objections to panpsychism and argue that the view remains viable. You can also read Tallis’s reply directly in the volume! 🙂 #philsky
link.springer.com
Tallis’s Take on Panpsychism: A Thorough Assessment
I examine Raymond Tallis’s objections to (primarily Russellian) panpsychism, focusing on three key arguments: the subject combination problem, the epistemic challenge of knowing through &#3...
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Ben Collins @bencollins.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
The problem here is all of these people know they're in a race against the clock to get all of this done before the tide turns. And by "all of this," I basically mean the destruction of anything that could criticize the post-Constitutional technofeudalist society they're hastily trying to stand up.
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PhilSci-Archive @philsci-archive.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
New on the Archive: Le Bihan, Baptiste (2023) String Theory for Metaphysicians. [Preprint] philsci-archive.pitt.edu/29853
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PhilSci-Archive @philsci-archive.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
New on the Archive: Dashwood, Cameron (2026) The Structure of Phonons. In: UNSPECIFIED. philsci-archive.pitt.edu/29858
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Finn Thwaite @finnthwaite.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
Model-building famously devoid of right-wing extremists
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Bernard Wills @bnwills.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
Oh it's ghosts all the way down.
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Finn Thwaite @finnthwaite.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
Speak for yourself
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British Journal for the Philosophy of Science @thebjps.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
From the new issue: Theoretical Relicts: Progress, Reduction, and Autonomy – Katie Robertson & Alastair Wilson Abstract in alt text or read it here (open access): www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/... #philsci #philsky
ABSTRACT. Sometimes when a physical theory is abandoned, its theoretical entities continue to be used. What should scientific realists say about these entities? The usual answer is that they are useful fictions. We offer a different answer. We start by distinguishing horizontal reduction from vertical reduction. We describe a verticalization procedure that transforms horizontal reductions into vertical reductions. We identify a sense in which the higher-level theory describes distinct subject matters from the lower-level theory, enabling in certain cases the higher-level theory to retain distinctive explanatory power even in the presence of reduction. We suggest that theoretical entities from superseded theories should be retained in a scientific realist account when, reinterpreted as higher-level abstractions, those theories and their entities perform distinctive work in providing the best explanation for less fundamental phenomena of interest. Or: a good relict is an emergent relict.
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WIRED @wired.com · 29/04/2026
“Never talk about goblins, gremlins, raccoons, trolls, ogres, pigeons, or other animals or creatures unless it is absolutely and unambiguously relevant,” reads OpenAI's coding agent instructions. www.wired.com/story/openai...
wired.com
OpenAI Really Wants Codex to Shut Up About Goblins
“Never talk about goblins, gremlins, raccoons, trolls, ogres, pigeons, or other animals or creatures unless it is absolutely and unambiguously relevant,” reads OpenAI's coding agent instructions.
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Patrick Skeels @baslogic.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
Everyone who does work that is more formal than mine is lost in trivial details and needs to focus on real philosophy. Meanwhile. anyone who does work less formal than mine needs to get serious and quit being so frightened by a little math.
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Finn Thwaite @finnthwaite.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
Thanks @fredcollings.bsky.social for accompanying me and for some of the photos!
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Finn Thwaite @finnthwaite.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
I had a great time presenting at Oxford for the BLOC Graduate Philosophy of Physics Workshop. My talk was on "Physical Emergence as Metaphysical Naturalism". I'm super thankful for all of the interesting feedback!—I've a lot to think about. (See final pic of me stressing over a coffee beforehand)
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Daniel Lakens @lakens.bsky.social · 15/08/2025
An abbreviation (ABB) in a journal article (JA) or Grant Application (GA) is rarely worth the words it saves. Every ABB requires cognitive resources (CR) and at my age by the time I'm halfway through a JA or GA I no longer have the CR to remember what your ABB stood for.
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Christopher J Stevens @metaphysiology.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
If you conceive it, they will come.
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Sean Carroll @seanmcarroll.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
Daniel Dennett’s Real Patterns in Science and Nature— new collected volume is now out. All chapters open access, including my paper with Acyuth Parola on what emergence can possibly mean. direct.mit.edu/books/oa-edi...
direct.mit.edu
Dennett's Real Patterns in Science and Nature
How the concept of a pattern, as understood in information science and applied in contemporary AI, can address deep questions in science and philosophy.The
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Nick Slawicz @ellingtonelms.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
Erm, they're called palaeontologists, actually.
A 'Dinosaur Smarties' Easter egg.
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Evan Westra @evanwestra.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
99% of the time, saying that feature F explains why humans are unique or special is just rhetorical window dressing for something like "F is a thing humans do and I think that's neat."
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Brett Karlan @oldjerryfodor.bsky.social · 21/03/2026
*watching civilization crumble* Wow this is harming so many people in their capacities as knowers 😔😔
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Anna Alexandrova @annaalexandrova.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
Nancy Cartwright has an apt expression for this phenomenon: vanity of rigour.
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Boze Herrington, Library Owl @sketchesbyboze.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
I get yelled at for saying this but for many hundreds of years people went to university not to get diplomas or be employable but because immersion in the humanities was considered foundational to a good life, and school must return to its original purpose: the joy of learning.
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PhilSci-Archive @philsci-archive.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
New on the Archive: Franklin, Alexander (2026) Against Rigour: In Favour of Informal Standards for Reduction in Philosophy of Physics. [Preprint] philsci-archive.pitt.edu/28449
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Finn Thwaite @finnthwaite.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
Such a fantastic talk today at LSE. A triumph in interdisciplinary philosophy!
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Jonathan Birch @birchlse.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
There is this funny but confusing dynamic whereby philosophers point to neuroscience as the strongest support yet for the causal closure of the physical world, and then the neuroscientists themselves turn out to be substance dualists.
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Center for PhilSci @center4philsci.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
The Center for Philosophy of Science is proud to congratulate former visiting fellow Andrea Roselli on the publication of two papers. Scan the QR code or visit our website for more information. #PhilosophyofScience
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Finn Thwaite @finnthwaite.bsky.social · 02/02/2026
I'm thankful for having been given the opportunity to present my analysis of fusion emergence from the perspective of the philosophy of physics at the 'Panpsychism, Non-Physicalism, and Causal Powers of Consciousness' workshop in @ruhr-uni-bochum.de. An enjoyable and insightful few days!
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Nino Kadic @ninokadic.com · 30/01/2026
I had a great time at the ‘Panpsychism, Non-Physicalism, and the Causal Powers of Consciousness’ workshop with @heddamorch.bsky.social at Ruhr Uni Bochum. So many compelling new views that push the debate forward. I’m very grateful to have had this opportunity! Photo by @finnthwaite.bsky.social! 📸
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Sean Carroll @seanmcarroll.bsky.social · 18/01/2026
“As the number of physicists increases, each specialty becomes more self-sustaining and self-contained. Such Balkanization carries physics, and indeed, every science further away, from natural philosophy, which, intellectually, is the meaning and goal of science.” — I.I. Rabi
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Nino Kadic @ninokadic.com · 16/01/2026
Is panpsychism a philosophical dead-end or a legitimate response to the hard problem of consciousness? I respond to Walter Veit's critique and defend panpsychism as a serious metaphysical option, not ornamental fluff. #philsky @walterveit.bsky.social
mindmonads.substack.com
Is panpsychism pseudophilosophy?
A response to Walter Veit
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Jonathan Birch @birchlse.bsky.social · 13/01/2026
I've been working for ages on a comprehensive revamp of the Stanford Encyclopedia Entry on "Animal Consciousness", with new sections on non-Western perspectives, methodological challenges and evolutionary big pictures, and it's out today: plato.stanford.edu/entries/cons.... Hope you find it useful!
Animal Consciousness (first paragraph of the article).
First published Sat Dec 23, 1995; substantive revision Tue Jan 13, 2026.

Is there something it’s like to be an octopus, a bee, a snail? For much of the twentieth century, research into animal cognition tended to avoid questions of consciousness, following the lead of human neuroscience, where such questions were also marginalized (see the entries on animal cognition, methods in comparative cognition). However, the growing profile of consciousness science since 2000 has brought the topic of consciousness back into the scientific mainstream (see the entry on the neuroscience of consciousness), and this has led to resurgent interest in studying conscious experience in other animals.
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Archie Fletcher @archiefl.bsky.social · 26/12/2025
open.substack.com/pub/thezombi...
open.substack.com
Can Your Beliefs Change What You See?
A Very Short Introduction to Cognitive Penetration
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Finn Thwaite @finnthwaite.bsky.social · 25/12/2025
Merry Christmas to me!
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Karen Lloyd @karenlloyd.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
My article on aeonophiles (ultra-long lived organisms) came out in Aeon Magazine today!
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Joad The Wet Sprocket @joadsprocket.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
He Knew
computers will be twice
 as powerful 10,000 times
 larger and so expensive
 that only the five
 richest kings of Europe
 will own them.
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Nino Kadic @ninokadic.com · 13/12/2025
In my first Substack post, I write about why panpsychism - the view that consciousness is everywhere - should be taken seriously. While seemingly radical, it rests on a set of individually compelling premises about the nature of reality. Subscribe for more! ✨ #philsky
open.substack.com
Why take panpsychism seriously
The radical idea that consciousness is everywhere
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Nino Kadic @ninokadic.com · 09/12/2025
We're all fundamental. Here's my weird take on #panpsychism. Open-access article! 🙂 #philsky
link.springer.com
Monadic panpsychism - Synthese
One of the main obstacles for panpsychism, the view that consciousness is fundamental and ubiquitous, is the difficulty of explaining how simple subjects could combine to form complex subjects. Known ...
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Nino Kadic @ninokadic.com · 11/12/2025
“Within this culture, physicalism often functions not as a contested ontological thesis, but as a default assumption, one barely needing defence. As a result, arguments in favour of physicalism are typically held to a far lower standard of scrutiny than those opposing it.“ @finnthwaite.bsky.social
open.substack.com
Substance Abuse
How Physicalists Get High on Their Own Supply
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Archie Fletcher @archiefl.bsky.social · 01/12/2025
substack.com/@thezombiese...
substack.com
Banging My Hands on My Head to Prove the World is Real
“Seeing, contrary to popular wisdom, isn’t believing.
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Finn Thwaite @finnthwaite.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
Thanks to whoever gave/sold this to Skoob books. What a find! Excited to read the real thing rather than the PDFs.
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Brett Karlan @oldjerryfodor.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
Philosophy is more divided than ever - but how is it affecting our love lives? I spent a year dating empiricists to find out
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