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Thomas Pink

@leonard33.bsky.social
258 followers 395 following 9 posts

Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, King’s College London

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Reposted by Thomas Pink
Digressionsimpressions @nescio13.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
On Censors, the Administrative State and Rousseau (inspired by @aoprea.bsky.social) and shout out to @leonard33.bsky.social digressionsimpressions.substack.com/p/on-censors...
digressionsimpressions.substack.com
On Censors, the Administrative State and Rousseau (inspired by Oprea)
One of the minor oddities of our age is that ‘censorship’ has such a negative connotation and the most negative in the American republic.
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The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 10/08/2026
"Much of Tyler Austin Harper’s academic career had felt like a fairy tale. When he landed a tenure-track job, one adviser said that it was like “watching the last dinosaur being born.” But after few years at Bates College, his faith in academia had shattered:
bit.ly
Confessions of a Token Black Professor
The insufferable hypocrisy of elite academia
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Robert McNees @mcnees.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Physicist and astronomer Georges Lemaître was born #OTD in 1894. In 1927 he proposed a model of an expanding Universe. Then, in 1931, he ran the clock backwards and hypothesized its origin as a “unique atom” or “unique quantum,” paving the way for modern ideas about the Big Bang. 🧪 ⚛️ 🔭
Black and white photo of diocesan priest Georges Lemaître. He is wearing a dark jacket and shirt with his white priest’s collar. He has glasses on, with his hair combed back, and is looking at the camera with a neutral expression.
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General Boles @generalboles.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
Are there no tailors in America? Did Trump deport them all?
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Digressionsimpressions @nescio13.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
@kvallier.bsky.social @ryanmuldoon.bsky.social @leonard33.bsky.social maybe amusing
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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 09/05/2026
It’s wild! Conservative MPs whose own local government base has just been wiped out will tell you, wholly sincerely, that things are going well.
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Digressionsimpressions @nescio13.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
Shout out to @leonard33.bsky.social
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Digressionsimpressions @nescio13.bsky.social · 28/02/2026
With shouts out to @ryanmuldoon.bsky.social @kathleencreel.bsky.social @leonard33.bsky.social
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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
I can completely believe he didn’t know - in fact I would be shocked if he did! - because the signal that comes down from on high in this government is “don’t bring your problems to the prime minister”.
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James Butler @piercepenniless.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
So much of the Mandelson affair involves people making objectively insane decisions and thinking, well, this surely will not blow up in my face -- despite substantial precedent that, where Mandelson is concerned, it really will definitely blow up in your face.
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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 31/03/2026
Some first-rate science writing: For this story, @jdrakephd.bsky.social carefully read our recent paper and then we spent a very fun 90 minutes or so talking on zoom. His article that gets right to the heart of our model, explains it clearly, and then explores why it will matter in the future.
forbes.com
The System That Decides What Science Gets Published Is Breaking Down
The peer review system that validates scientific research is trapped in a self-defeating cycle. A new mathematical model shows why—and what comes next.
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Alexander Douglas @axdouglas.bsky.social · 12/01/2026
The London Spinoza Circle has been reborn as the UK Spinoza Circle, thanks to the hard work of @asalgadoborge.bsky.social. Please see the website here to sign up and for info on the first event, happening this Friday! www.spinozacircle.co.uk
spinozacircle.co.uk
UK Spinoza Circle | A Monthly Online Workshop
Formerly known as the London Spinoza Circle, the UK Spinoza Circle is an ongoing monthly workshop open to academics, postgraduates and graduate students.
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Dr David Jeffery @drdavidjeffery.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
Listening to the ghosts of Tories past - and moving to the 'centre' - is not a great idea for Kemi. If you track how Tory voters in each GE have voted in other elections, it's not clear that the Cameronite coalition has fled the Tories for centrist parties.
A grid of horizontal stacked bar charts titled “How Former Conservative Voters Have Voted Over Time.” Each panel represents a group of voters defined by the election year in which they voted Conservative (e.g. 2005 Tory Voters through 2025 Tory Voters). Within each panel, bars show the proportional distribution (0–100%) of how those voters reported voting in other general elections (2005 to 2025). Bars are colour-coded by party: Conservative (blue), UKIP/BXP/Reform (teal), Liberal Democrat (yellow), Labour (red), Green (green), Other (light grey), and Don’t Know/Would Not Vote (dark grey). Across all panels, Conservative remains the largest share in most years, with noticeable variation over time in support for UKIP/BXP/Reform, Labour, and other parties. The x-axis shows proportion, the y-axis lists election years, and the legend appears at the bottom. Source: British Election Study Waves 1–30.
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Joshua Rozenberg @joshuarozenberg.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
The Criminal Cases Review Commission has asked the appeal courts to consider the cases of five men who are still serving indefinite prison sentences for offences committed as long as 20 years ago. The offenders were under 21 when convicted in separate cases. rozenberg.substack.com/p/new-hope-f...
rozenberg.substack.com
New hope for IPP prisoners
CCRC refers five cases to appeal courts
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JudgeSabo 🏴 @judgesabo.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
Very interesting and enlightening discussion around Pascal's Wager! Highly recommend listening to it for a good discussion around pragmatic choice theory, dealing with probabilities and infinity, and the relation between belief and faith
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Digressionsimpressions @nescio13.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
William Orton on The Liberal Tradition and Locke & Adam Smith open.substack.com/pub/digressi...
open.substack.com
William Orton on The Liberal Tradition and Locke & Adam Smith
On Friday, I’ll be at UCLA.
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John Rentoul @rentouljohn.bsky.social · 31/12/2025
Interesting audit of a wrong prediction by Tyler Cowen marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevo...
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Nicolai von Ondarza @nvondarza.bsky.social · 31/12/2025
This is also not just a UK phenomenon - in Spain support for Catalan Independence was highest while the Partido Popular (quite conservative Centre-Right) was in power in Madrid, while it has gone down under the social democratic PSOE governing Spain.
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Victorian Commons @victoriancommons.bsky.social · 03/12/2025
#OnThisDay 1852 Lord Adolphus Vane-Tempest became Conservative MP for Durham at a by-election. Our post re-assessed the career of a man described by one historian as ‘a syphilitic alcoholic wastrel’: victoriancommons.wordpress.com/2014/05/27/m...
victoriancommons.wordpress.com
MP of the Month: Lord Adolphus Vane-Tempest
Inside the mausoleum of the Church of St. Mary’s, Long Newton, in county Durham, is a small mural commemorating the life of Lord Adolphus Frederick Charles William Stewart Vane-Tempest (1825-1864),…
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Paul Bernal @paulbernal.bsky.social · 26/11/2025
Of course another consequence of removing juries from all but the most serious crimes is that those pesky juries won’t be able to find annoying protestors not guilty.
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Henry Mance @henrymance.ft.com · 24/11/2025
Brilliant thecritic.co.uk/auntie-in-th...
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James Ball @jamesrball.com · 14/11/2025
Unless someone in the Treasury reassures the markets pretty soon, there’s every chance the UK will need to raise *more* tax for less in return. Total clusterfuck in the making, this. Having a budget fall apart more than a week before it’s actually be delivered might be a new record.
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Robert Hutton @roberthutton.co.uk · 09/11/2025
The niche moment I'm waiting for is Kemi Badenoch denouncing whichever government was in charge when Davie was appointed.
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General Boles @generalboles.bsky.social · 09/11/2025
She's thinking of a poppy tax isn't she
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James Ball @jamesrball.com · 08/11/2025
There’s nothing wrong with it as a policy, other than it just raises much, *much* less money than just raising income tax. And Labour needs to be one and done with tax rises. The way they’re doing this…won’t raise enough.
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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 01/11/2025
Genuinely the greatest trick the aviation industry has ever pulled to convince people that “sitting on a stationary plane for longer” is something worth paying for.
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Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 01/11/2025
I'd somehow missed this fascinating study. Anyway, here it is:
bestforbritain.org
Research Study: Decoding Populism - Who Are Reform UK's Voters?
Who are Reform UK's Voters? A new study has identified 5 distinct groups among those thinking about voting for Reform at the next GE. Research shows these voters share feelings of frustration but hav...
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Natasha Simonova @philistella.bsky.social · 14/10/2025
You simply cannot successfully integrate into British society unless you can write 800 words on the role of gender in 'A Streetcar Named Desire'.
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John T @jtatlife.bsky.social · 08/10/2025
Do homework before PMQs. Pick some areas where Labour might be seen to be doing badly but Reform are less comfy (education, benefits, foreign policy) and highlight those instead of being Nigel's warm up act. None of those guarantee a win, but they leave you in an OK place for something to turn up
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John T @jtatlife.bsky.social · 08/10/2025
For a start starting a fight with Jenrick to kick off a leadership challenge on the subject of 'gutter racism: yes or no' and hopefully winning an extra year. Then wait for Reeves to raise taxes at the Budget, condemn, propose some mindless but plausible benefit cuts instead. Be nice to journalists.
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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 08/10/2025
I’m gonna defend Liz Truss, because I like to be blocked by two or so people every day, and say that her plans were 100 times more reasonable than these, in that she thought she would have enough time to bounce Tory MPs into backing spending cuts. Much less daft than anything Badenoch has said.
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Centre for Logic and Philosophy of Science (CLPS) @clpskuleuven.bsky.social · 08/10/2025
In recent decades, scholars have examined various facets of Avicenna’s #logic. But how did Avicenna himself conceptualize logic—its definition, status, and purpose? PhD student Shahab Khademi explores this question in a new paper! 👇📃 www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... #philsky #histphil #HPS
tandfonline.com
Avicenna on the Meaning of Logic: Revisiting Five Major Works
Avicenna's logic has gathered much interest in recent decades. However, one significant point that has hitherto been frequently neglected is what logic means to Avicenna in the first place. Conside...
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Rachel Cunliffe @rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 08/10/2025
"While Britain was redefining what a woman is, China was building five nuclear reactors," says Kemi Badenoch. I cannot be the only person curious about how these two things are related
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Robert Hutton @roberthutton.co.uk · 08/10/2025
Wondering how Kemi Badenoch can stand up and complain that no one can get a GP appointment? She's taken SUPER MAGIC DEFEAT-O! thecritic.co.uk/super-magic-...
thecritic.co.uk
Super Magic Defeat-O! | Robert Hutton | The Critic Magazine
Are YOU a politician struggling with the big challenges facing twenty-first century economies? Are you UNCERTAIN how to satisfy an aging population that wants to be looked after but doesn’t want to…
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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 08/10/2025
It’s such a weird level of non-rigour, at the point you are going to “cut the civil service, actual roles to go TBC”, why stop there? Why not just go “the stamp duty replacement (tbc) will actually raise double the money!”
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Thomas Pink @leonard33.bsky.social · 08/10/2025
How could Badenoch ever lose now? thecritic.co.uk/one-small-st...
thecritic.co.uk
One small step… | Robert Hutton | The Critic Magazine
“I thought you’d like that one!” Kemi Badenoch shouted as the Conservative Party rose to its feet to cheer. She chuckled happily. There’s nothing Tories like more than a tax cut, and she’d just…
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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 08/10/2025
The "line to take" for Badenoch's supporters seems to be "we've changed leaders too often in the past". So which of those leaders should *not* have been removed? Liz Truss? IDS? May, after those huge defeats? Johnson, despite lying to Parliament? The problem isn't the firing. It's everything else
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Paul Bernal @paulbernal.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
A Tory party under Jenrick might take a few of the racist votes from Reform, but they’d haemorrhage bucketloads to the Lib Dems. So, on balance…
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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
Treason never prosper, for if it prospers, none dare call it treason.
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
All these people really want is to pay no taxes and be treated with floor scraping deference. Everything else is just bullshit in pursuit of that goal.
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General Boles @generalboles.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
Everyone who advocates for turning the UK into the UAE assumes they'll be the one with a marina penthouse rather than the guy working on a building site in 50c heat
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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
"The day had begun with Robert Jenrick accused of racism. This is of course quite unfair. Racists believe in something." Absolutely fantastic sketch by @roberthutton.co.uk. Every line is a banger:
thecritic.co.uk
Rob whistle | Robert Hutton | The Critic Magazine
The day had begun with Robert Jenrick accused of racism. This is of course quite unfair. Racists believe in something. Some of us remember Jenrick as a chubby-cheeked fan of David Cameron fighting…
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Kevin Zollman @kevinzollman.com · 24/09/2025
I have heard about this issue for some time. I had an undergraduate professor and a colleague (now sadly died) from Argentina, and both reported their frustration with this fact to me. I think the value of having a lingua franca is probably worth it, but it's also good to acknowledge the loss.
Text: A Lingering Loss
Surprisingly, almost 90% of NNES respondents also said that frequent use of English in academia had interfered with their ability to do philosophy in their own language.

I (Uwe) can relate. I’m a German (originally from East Berlin). After almost a decade of doing philosophy in English-speaking countries (e.g., New Zealand, Canada, the UK), I now struggle to explain my research in German. All I know in philosophy is ‘encoded’ in English in my mind. When German-speaking colleagues ask what I work on, I often freeze because I don’t know how to say it in German. Reaching a certain NNES proficiency may come at the cost of fluency in one’s native language—a loss that may be subtle but deeply felt.
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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 22/09/2025
It's obviously true unless something unexpected happens, but a) the incumbent government needs to actually have *delivered for its coalition* to lead a republican front b) the leader needs to be a plausible leader of it and c) they do need to actually be able to say 'Vichy was bad'.
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Digressionsimpressions @nescio13.bsky.social · 10/03/2025
Newton and Nature does nothing in vain, pt. 4 open.substack.com/pub/digressi...
open.substack.com
Newton and Nature does nothing in vain, pt. 4
Back in 1966 J.
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Alan Beattie @alanbeattie.bsky.social · 10/03/2025
My Trade Secrets today. Two theories on Trump's tariff chaos: 1. It's a cunning and deliberate discombobulation of trading partners. 2. It's a shambles from an administration full of clashing motives, wrongheaded ideas and a capricious boss. Guess what? I'm going with 2. First 300 clicks free.
on.ft.com
Donald Trump’s coercion descends into chaos
[FREE TO READ] The US’s tariff policy evokes bafflement as well as fear
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Andrew Watt @andrewwatteu.bsky.social · 05/03/2025
The ejection of the FDP from government and parliament and the Mad King Across the Water have jolted Germany out if its kethargy. This would be a major fiscal package skewed heavily to defence but with a substantial infrastructure component. Notable for its absence: mention of EU fiscal rules.
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Tim Ellis, TDSB Ward 2 candidate 🍁 @djdynamic.ca · 05/03/2025
If you're wondering about the vibe in Canada right now, I just got served this ad for a brewhouse that is just a portrait of the White House being burned down. No text, just a bigass picture of the White House burning and a link directly to their menu lolol
A gorgeous portrait of the White House entirely aflame, the smoke billowing and the flames lighting up the night sky. It sparks deep patriotic ferver. This is what democracy looks like.

Also there's a white button with blue text below the portrait. The text reads "Learn more" and if clicked it takes you to the menu of a local brewhouse.
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Jo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
I think the smart money is getting out of the world’s stock markets and putting it all into Philosophy futures. Existentialism, Stoicism and Nihilism especially bullish.
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