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Massimiliano Simons

@masssimons.bsky.social
3.2K followers 1.7K following 349 posts

Assistant Prof. in Philosophy of Technology Maastricht University, fascinated by #synbio, #experimentation, #historicalepistemology, #HOPOS, #HOPOT, #sciencefiction and #conspiracytheory - he/him

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Massimiliano Simons @masssimons.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
We start from this beautiful enigmatic quote from the Dutch catholic philosophers of technology Frans Tellegen, who summarizes the history of philosophy of technology as follows. Do you recognize all the names that he assumes as self-evident?
A bibliography of technology in human life and culture only begins around 1900, especially in Germany (Wendt, Eyth, Zschimmer et al.) and it gains some scope and depth after World War I (Dessauer, Osw. Spengler, Lilje, the Jünger brothers, Diesel, Hardensett, et al.), while voices from France, England and the Netherlands begin to join the chorus (Berdyaev, Dubreuil, Malcor, Leroi-Gourhan; the technocrats in America and Lewis Mumford; Korevaar, Schermerhorn, Cobbenhagen, de Bruyn). From 1945 the great stream begins, of which I will now mention only Heidegger, Jaspers, Marcel and Guardini (Tellegen 1957, 30)
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Massimiliano Simons @masssimons.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
🚨New article with Darryl Cressman in Techné: “The Philosophy of Technology is more than Technology: Towards a Framework for the History of the Philosophy of Technology” The starting point is simple question: what does it mean to write history of philosophy of technology? #philtech #hopot #hopos
A preview of the first page of the article
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Massimiliano Simons @masssimons.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
3/ For this paper, I look at two figures in particular: Hugo Dingler and Gaston Bachelard. They both put experimentation at the center of their thinking, but they do so as part of two radically different philosophical projects.
Picture of Hugo DinglerPicture of Gaston Bachelard
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Massimiliano Simons @masssimons.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
1/ 🧵 The history of the philosophy of experimentation isn't really just a history of what philosophers have said about experiments. In a new #HOPOS paper, I argue that it is also a history of what philosophers thought philosophy of science itself was *for*. #philsci
A Picture of the first page of the article
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Massimiliano Simons @masssimons.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
Today in Delft to talk about the history of philosophy of technology in the Netherlands #hopot #philtech
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Massimiliano Simons @masssimons.bsky.social · 27/12/2025
Adam Roberts, Lake of Darkness
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Massimiliano Simons @masssimons.bsky.social · 13/12/2025
Continuing my journey through empiricisms, now with the great book by David Lapoujade on William James' radical empiricism. This is the book that 'converted' Latour to James and pragmatism #philsci
Cover of David Lapoujade's book William James, empiricism and pragmatism
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Massimiliano Simons @masssimons.bsky.social · 07/12/2025
Just finished this, another great recent introduction to logical empiricism, The Vienna Circle by Sahotra Sarkar. Very accessible, but also goes into the technical bits regularly #jesuispositivist #philsci
Photo of Book cover of The Vienna Circle by Sahotra Sarkar
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Massimiliano Simons @masssimons.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
Who was Ferdinand Gonseth? If you want Ties van Gemert and me talk about this half-forgotten Swiss philosopher of science and what role he played in 20C #philsci, you can join online! This Wednesday! sigma.mathsworlds.org/activities/s...
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Massimiliano Simons @masssimons.bsky.social · 23/10/2025
I will be at this great conference in Brussels on Arendt and philosophy of technology for the next few days #philtech ethu.research.vub.be/conference-c...
Poster of conference on 'coming to terms with technology'
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Massimiliano Simons @masssimons.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
Fons Dewulf in action at #epsa25, arguing for the use of constitutive a priori for thinking about historiography #epsa2025 @epsaphilsci.bsky.social
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Massimiliano Simons @masssimons.bsky.social · 28/08/2025
In the session right now, she is doing great #epsa25
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Massimiliano Simons @masssimons.bsky.social · 09/08/2025
It looks like the perfect day to read this ☀️
Book cover of Solar Politics by Oxana Timofeeva
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Massimiliano Simons @masssimons.bsky.social · 25/07/2025
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Massimiliano Simons @masssimons.bsky.social · 28/06/2025
There actually was a picture of me after all! #spt2025
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Massimiliano Simons @masssimons.bsky.social · 27/06/2025
Up next is keynote at #spt2025 by Robert Rosenberger on Sartre's letter opener and the hard problem in the philosophy of technology
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Massimiliano Simons @masssimons.bsky.social · 27/06/2025
Continuing #spt2025 with session on maintenance and #philtech, starting with Mark Thomas Young on Artifact metabolisms: the material flows of an iphone
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Massimiliano Simons @masssimons.bsky.social · 27/06/2025
Another Simondon talk at #spt2025! Luuk Stellinga uses Simondon to criticize the instrumentalism of humane AI
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Massimiliano Simons @masssimons.bsky.social · 27/06/2025
#spt2025 continues, now panel on instrumentalism, starting with Johannes Schick on 'technology' as a category (with Durkheim, Mauss, and Hubert) #philtech
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Massimiliano Simons @masssimons.bsky.social · 26/06/2025
Final #spt2025 session of the day, starting with @ethicistforhire.bsky.social on #philtech and movies!
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Massimiliano Simons @masssimons.bsky.social · 26/06/2025
Next keynote at #spt2025 is @shannonvallor.bsky.social on 'de-coding humanity' #philtech
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Massimiliano Simons @masssimons.bsky.social · 26/06/2025
Final talk of the #spt2025 is on the usefulness of the concept of technoscience - and Gilbert Hottois of course appears!
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Massimiliano Simons @masssimons.bsky.social · 26/06/2025
The panel continues with the Delft empirical philosophy cluster on their empirical study of empirical philosophy #spt2025 #philtech
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Massimiliano Simons @masssimons.bsky.social · 26/06/2025
Next at #spt2025, mixed panel in #philtech: Tijs Vandemeulebroucke on how philosophy of technology is always grounded in extractivism
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Massimiliano Simons @masssimons.bsky.social · 26/06/2025
Session of #SPT2025 on Nelson Goodman, ways of worldmaking, and #philtech - opening by Alfred Nordmann
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Massimiliano Simons @masssimons.bsky.social · 25/06/2025
Currently in a session of #SPT2025 on intercultural #philtech: what is it? What does it do? What needs to be done? @esdit.bsky.social
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Massimiliano Simons @masssimons.bsky.social · 25/06/2025
Opening keynote by @sabinaleonelli.bsky.social at the #spt2025 conference on 'intimiteit technologies' #philtech
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Massimiliano Simons @masssimons.bsky.social · 02/06/2025
This week there is a great conference on Bruno Latour as a philosopher in Paris! I will give a talk on anthropology of science, critique and the Latour-Serres connection. See the full program here lier-fyt.ehess.fr/evenement/le... #philsci
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Massimiliano Simons @masssimons.bsky.social · 16/04/2025
March through Maastricht against budget cuts #WOinActie @woinactielimburg.bsky.social
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Massimiliano Simons @masssimons.bsky.social · 16/04/2025
About to march through Maastricht against budget cuts #WOinActie @woinactielimburg.bsky.social
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Massimiliano Simons @masssimons.bsky.social · 16/04/2025
Huge crowd, protesting against the budget cuts in Dutch higher education at Maastricht #WOinActie
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Massimiliano Simons @masssimons.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
I believe I do have similar manuscripts lying around in my desk - any journal would be interested?
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Massimiliano Simons @masssimons.bsky.social · 02/02/2025
Currently reading
Byung-chul Han, the disappearance of rituals
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Massimiliano Simons @masssimons.bsky.social · 02/01/2025
Apparently it is national science fiction day in the US. Here some covers of recent #scifi books I read that I enjoyed!
A history of what comes next, Sylvain NeuvelKim Stanley Robinson, Galileo's DreamCory Doctorow, RadicalizedAdrian Tchaikovsky, Children of Time
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Massimiliano Simons @masssimons.bsky.social · 31/12/2024
Currently reading Rowbottom on cognitive instrumentalism. (The ratio of thought experiment per page is embarrassing ) #philsci
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Massimiliano Simons @masssimons.bsky.social · 05/12/2024
Today I finished @naomiaklein.bsky.social her Doppelganger, which is a great read, very well executed. Though theorywise on the conspiracy theory theory a bit shaky in my opinion
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Massimiliano Simons @masssimons.bsky.social · 28/11/2024
Continuing our topic of time and speed, today started reading Hartmut Rosa's Social Acceleration
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Massimiliano Simons @masssimons.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
Protest on the move #WOinActie
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Massimiliano Simons @masssimons.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
More than 20,000 people protesting the budget cuts in higher education in the Netherlands #WOinActie
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Massimiliano Simons @masssimons.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
Rain does not stop us #WOinActie
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Massimiliano Simons @masssimons.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
Today, we're protesting the proposed budget cuts for higher education in the Netherlands #WOinActie
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Massimiliano Simons @masssimons.bsky.social · 24/11/2024
Continuing my exploration of the work of Paul Virilio
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Massimiliano Simons @masssimons.bsky.social · 17/11/2024
Today's reading
Paul Virilio, Speed and Politics
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Massimiliano Simons @masssimons.bsky.social · 01/11/2024
Now the #HOPOT2024 conference is over, I take a bit of rest and will lose myself in this new biography of Michel Serres (only 700 pages!)
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Massimiliano Simons @masssimons.bsky.social · 30/10/2024
Kicking off the last day of the #HOPOT2024 conference, with Carl Mitcham on the history of the field of philosophy of technology #philtech
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Massimiliano Simons @masssimons.bsky.social · 29/10/2024
We start second day with second keynote of Federica Buongiorno on technology and repression #hopot2024 #histtech
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Massimiliano Simons @masssimons.bsky.social · 28/10/2024
Full house at our first keynote by Xavier Guchet for our history of philosophy of technology conference @fasosmaastricht.bsky.social #HOPOT2024 #philtech
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Massimiliano Simons @masssimons.bsky.social · 28/10/2024
We opened the history of philosophy of technology conference at @fasosmaastricht.bsky.social #HOPOT2024
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Massimiliano Simons @masssimons.bsky.social · 13/06/2024
Great lineup for this years historical epistemology workshop! Sadly I cannot be there this year #philsci #histsci
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Massimiliano Simons @masssimons.bsky.social · 09/04/2024
Wat heeft AI met papegaaien te maken? Als onderdeel van de lezingenreeks voor de permanente vorming actuele filosofie aan de UGent, geef ik een lezing over hoe de levenswetenschappen ons anders kunnen doen denken over AI. www.ugent.be/lw/philosoph...
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