Nat Hansen @nathansen.bsky.social · 22hThis fits with what we found in our corpus study of [know]; basically no occurrences in COCA where people say someone doesn't know something because they lack sufficient justification (or some other feature), only occurrences where the person isn't aware of something. 160
Nat Hansen @nathansen.bsky.social · 25/09/2026What are we arguing about? I wasn’t in Bluesky today, I was working on a cookie clicker-style game about submitting papers to journals 🍪 🍪 020
Reposted by Nat HansenAidan McGlynn @aidanmcglynn.bsky.social · 22/09/2026The clues were all there 0364
Reposted by Nat HansenEdouard Machery @edouardmachery.bsky.social · 18/09/2026great project by @nathansen.bsky.social! Do some thought experiments in a socratic manner!ux-phi.comExperiments — ux-phiPlayable versions of canonical experiments in philosophy: the Socratic-questionnaire thought experiments — the trolley problem, Gettier cases, the side-effect effect, Mary the colour scientist. 244
Reposted by Nat Hansenjoannad-c.bsky.social @joannad-c.bsky.social · 16/09/2026Hiring! 🧠❤️🤔If you’re a philosopher working in ethics/ x-phi/ empirically informed moral philosophy / moral psychology / applied ethics, consider applying for a 2.5 year research postdoc with me in my lab at Oxford. Deadline noon 16th Oct. Details 👉 philjobs.org/job/show/32101 Hit me up with q’s!static.klipy.comShameless Fiona GallagherALT: Shameless Fiona Gallagher 12924
Nat Hansen @nathansen.bsky.social · 16/09/2026These have been getting a lot of traffic, thanks @xphilosopher.bsky.social! I added a button for people to share their chat transcripts—and one showed a capacity I didn't know they had: the user started writing in Spanish and the SQ just adapted! So I think you can try other languages with these... 050
Reposted by Nat HansenZoe Drayson @zoedrayson.bsky.social · 15/09/2026Attention philosophers of language who also work in theoretical linguistics: the Philosophy department and the Linguistics department at UC Davis are jointly hiring a TT Assistant Professor. Apply! recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF07874recruit.ucdavis.eduDepartment of Philosophy/Linguistics - Philosophy of Language/Computational LinguisticsUniversity of California, Davis is hiring. Apply now! 24117
Nat Hansen @nathansen.bsky.social · 15/09/2026Thanks so much Josh! When were running the experiments for that paper (back in the early 2020s) we wished we could do something like this, but we didn't know how to make it work. So it's pretty fun to have these up and running now. More are in development! Which other versions should I try to make? 020
Reposted by Nat HansenExperimental Philosophy @xphilosopher.bsky.social · 15/09/2026Philosopher @nathansen.bsky.social has created a website that uses AI to take people through a Socratic dialogue about a philosophical thought experiment I gave it a try. In my opinion, it really does help users think through these questions www.ux-phi.com/experiments 1269
Nat Hansen @nathansen.bsky.social · 13/09/2026A new simulation is up at ux-phi: Hegel's last lectures on aesthetics: www.ux-phi.com/sim/hegel-ae... There's a new "scrollytelling"-style intro with a cameo by Schopenhauer—I found a scan of the course catalog/*Vorlesungsverzeichnis* for the 1828/9 term! nathansen.substack.com/p/berlin-182...nathansen.substack.comBerlin 1829: Hegel’s Last Lectures on AestheticsFrom Doric columns to the end of art 041
Reposted by Nat HansenPaul L. Franco @loadofbunk.bsky.social · 09/09/2026The book launch today was great and I'm excited to check out Sander's book, especially the later chapters on the culture wars! 1183
Nat Hansen @nathansen.bsky.social · 08/09/2026Back in 2022, Jumbly Grindrod, @jdporter.bsky.social, and I started writing a paper on distributional semantics and holism. How long ago that is in A.I. terms? The cutting edge model that we were talking about in our early drafts was GPT-3. nathansen.substack.com/p/lmao-in-fa...nathansen.substack.comLMAO. In fact, LMAFO.Distributional Semantics, Holism, and the Instability of Meaning 151
Nat Hansen @nathansen.bsky.social · 04/09/2026Thanks to @dailynous.com putting my little philosophy swipe game Philotypes in the heap of links, Ia lot more people have been playing it, and someone ("Knowledge Cartel") has finally unseated me as top of the leaderboard www.ux-phi.com/philotypes/ 171
Reposted by Nat HansenRobert Hawkins @rdhawkins.bsky.social · 03/09/2026Stanford Linguistics is hiring an open-rank sociolinguist (Assistant, Associate, or Full). Materials due October 16 for full consideration; start date September 2027. Please share widely!facultypositions.stanford.eduSociolinguistics, Open Rank - Stanford University, California, United StatesThe Department of Linguistics at Stanford University seeks applicants for a junior or senior appointment at the rank of tenure-track Assistant Professor, tenured Associate Professor, or Full Professor... 01924
Reposted by Nat HansenDavid Papineau @davidpapineau.bsky.social · 01/09/2026We are hiring—a permanent lectureship in Ethics/Political Philosophy—deadline 15 Nov www.kcl.ac.uk/jobs/144566-...kcl.ac.ukLecturer in Ethics and/or Political Philosophy | King's College London 02928
Reposted by Nat HansenKieran Healy @kjhealy.co · 30/08/2026“From the inside, ‘sort-of following along’ really feels like you're doing something productive.” arbustoemchamas.substack.com/p/i-naively-...arbustoemchamas.substack.comI naively tried vibe-coding a memory tool for agents and stared into the abyss of unsolved problems in philosophyor, cheap code does not translate into systems design prowess 5274
Nat Hansen @nathansen.bsky.social · 25/08/2026This summer I've been messing around with various game mechanics and I made a philosophy-themed swipe game: www.ux-phi.com/philotypes It's based around a simple forced choice, swipe left or right mechanic, and works best played on your phone. 151
Reposted by Nat HansenRichard Jean So @richardjeanso.bsky.social · 17/08/2026Hey I'm teaching a course "AI, Creativity & Slop" to first-year students this fall which includes readings in lit/philosophy, history + cog sci/comp sci. Does anyone have recs - essays they love in any of these areas - to help me finalize the syllabus? Would really appreciate any suggestions, thx! 206622
Reposted by Nat HansenExperimental Philosophy @xphilosopher.bsky.social · 17/08/2026Starter pack for experimental philosophy 195
Nat Hansen @nathansen.bsky.social · 14/08/2026I made a short, farcical simulation based on Oskar Morgenstern and Albert Einstein driving Kurt Gödel to his citizenship test in 1947. You play Einstein: www.ux-phi.com/invite/GDELG... I wrote about its design here: nathansen.substack.com/p/godels-cit...nathansen.substack.com 020
Nat Hansen @nathansen.bsky.social · 08/08/2026My awesome uncle Keith and his marvelous bird art in the Guardian! www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...theguardian.comThe ornithological artist drawing 1,000 birds by hand – all for an app that wants you off your phoneThe mission of the Flock app is quietly subversive: to encourage users to ditch their screens and explore the wonderful world of birding 141
Nat Hansen @nathansen.bsky.social · 05/08/20262026 is not only the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, it’s also 250 years since the death of David Hume on August 25, 1776. On ux-phi, now you can play David Hume’s favorite card game, Whist, with him, Adam Smith and Adam Ferguson: www.ux-phi.com/invite/HUMEW... 172
Nat Hansen @nathansen.bsky.social · 26/07/2026A new way of interacting with the philosopher personas of J.L. Austin, Iris Murdoch, G.E.M. Anscombe, and R.M. Hare is now up at ux-phi: The Oxford tutorial. Try it out here: www.ux-phi.com/class/TUTORI... 122
Nat Hansen @nathansen.bsky.social · 24/07/2026I've been quoting the idea from this paper's first para, that Claude prompts like "Report outcomes faithfully” are like what Azande witch-doctors say while stirring medicine: “You medicine which I am cooking, mind you always speak the truth to me. Do not let anyone injure me with his witchcraft..." 030
Reposted by Nat HansenExperimental Philosophy @xphilosopher.bsky.social · 17/07/2026Philosophers, we need your help We are running a study on philosophers’ intuitions about thought experiments moralsciencelab.com/intuitions/ Only takes a few minutes! 32522
Nat Hansen @nathansen.bsky.social · 09/07/2026Umeå University is advertising two assistant professor positions in the humanities: www.umu.se/en/work-with... I was a postdoc at Umeå and it's a great place to work! @ethannowak.bsky.social would back me up on this.umu.seTwo positions as Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities 12735
Reposted by Nat HansenShen-yi Liao 廖顯禕 @liao.shen-yi.org · 06/07/2026Why do people think there's conceptual inflation when there isn't? We suggest that it is, in part, just due to the diversity in language use. There is an assumption that drives me up the wall behind a lot of these complaints. People seem to think each word can only have this one meaning. 143
Nat Hansen @nathansen.bsky.social · 06/07/2026@liao.shen-yi.org and my op-ed version of "Measuring Conceptual Inflation: The Case of 'Racist'" is up at New Work in Philosophy, thanks @marcusarvan.bsky.social! newworkinphilosophy.substack.com/p/measuring-...newworkinphilosophy.substack.com"Measuring Conceptual Inflation: the Case of ‘Racist'" - Nat Hansen (University of Reading) & Shen-yi Liao (University of Puget Sound)Ergo, 2026 192
Reposted by Nat HansenErik Angner @erikangner.com · 02/07/2026Philosophy job in beautiful Lund 🇸🇪 lu.varbi.com/en/what:job/... #philjobslu.varbi.comSenior Lecturer in Practical PhilosophyWe are seeking a candidate for a full-time permanent position as Senior Lecturer in Practical Philosophy at the Department of Philosophy at Lund University. Workplace and academic environment The Depa 25031
Reposted by Nat HansenShen-yi Liao 廖顯禕 @liao.shen-yi.org · 30/06/2026This is the last of the trilogy that @nathansen.bsky.social and I have on conceptual inflation critiques and the word 'racist'. All the articles are open access. Download them all via the following DOIs, nerds! 1. doi.org/10.1017/apa.... 2. doi.org/10.3998/ergo... 3. doi.org/10.7015/JEAS... 051
Reposted by Nat HansenShen-yi Liao 廖顯禕 @liao.shen-yi.org · 30/06/2026Me and @nathansen.bsky.social has a paper called "Conceptual Inflation" that is now officially published by the TWese open access journal EurAmerica*. We do some natural history of critiques in this vicinity (cf. "concept creep"). We disentangle things people might mean by "conceptual inflation".euramerica-ch.ea.sinica.edu.tw56-2-2出刊年月/Date of Publishing 2026.06 所屬卷期/Vol. & No. 第56卷第2期 Vol. 56, No. 2 類型/Type 研究論文 Research Article 142
Reposted by Nat HansenBen Wurgaft @benwurgaft.bsky.social · 27/06/2026I had no idea this existed until now, and thought I had a good education: Mel Brooks' 1963 The Critic (h/t @kellylink.bsky.social ) www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pram...youtube.comMel Brooks - The Critic (1963)YouTube video by ados4k 3235
Reposted by Nat HansenEthan Landes @ethanlandes.bsky.social · 23/06/2026This paper is amazing. Highly recommend 041
Nat Hansen @nathansen.bsky.social · 22/06/2026This is a big chunky paper! My favorite parts are at the end, when we give our account of why people think "racist" is being conceptually inflated when we haven't found evidence that it is. 051
Nat Hansen @nathansen.bsky.social · 15/06/2026Thanks to a suggestion from Ángel Pinillos, I gave the Big Five personality test to some of the philosopher personas that are at the heart of the ux-phi.com simulations: Thrasymachus, Socrates, G.W.F. Hegel, J.L. Austin, G.E.M. Anscombe, and Iris Murdoch. 241
Reposted by Nat HansenPekka Väyrynen @vayrynen.bsky.social · 08/06/2026"High Standards" is advance access in PPR (doi.org/10.1111/phpr...). Argues against the view that 'rational' and (moral) 'good' are maximum-standard gradable adjectives and sketches an alternative view on which these adjectives have non-maximal but normatively demanding standards. 2/3doi.org 162
Nat Hansen @nathansen.bsky.social · 17/05/2026Last week I taught the part of Plato's Phaedrus where Socrates argues speech is superior to writing because writing can't argue back. I think Socrates is half right (Phaedrus's scroll can't argue back) so I made a version of the Phaedrus that *can* argue back: www.ux-phi.com/class/BLUESK... 082
Nat Hansen @nathansen.bsky.social · 07/05/2026I'm teaching 1984 and since we already ask our students to submit their work to an automated plagiarism detector, I thought I would make one for thoughtcrime: www.nat-hansen.com/minitrue Paste your work or bio to identify how much crimethink is in it and get a certified thoughtcrime-free version. 141
Reposted by Nat HansenShen-yi Liao 廖顯禕 @liao.shen-yi.org · 10/04/2026Nerds: This is basically an amazing open ended RPG set in important scenes in philosophical history. Pedagogy nerds: This is like Reacting (to the Past) simulations but single player. And philosophy. It’s not generic LLM generated but based on lots of research into academic and popular sources. 2195
Nat Hansen @nathansen.bsky.social · 10/04/2026I made some playable philosophy simulations: -Oxford 1952 -Republic Book I -Jena 1799 -Paris 1945 www.ux-phi.com 1134
Reposted by Nat HansenMark Dingemanse @markdingemanse.net · 08/04/2026New! Interactional foundations for critical AI literacies doi.org/10.5281/zeno... Why do Anthropic engineers talk to Claude as a witch-doctor to his potions? How is prompt engineering like spider divination? Can one reason without reasons? ft. Lovelace, Adorno, Suchman, Weizenbaum & many more ☺️ 411039
Nat Hansen @nathansen.bsky.social · 07/04/2026I built a text based simulation of 1952 Oxford where you can argue with Austin, Hare, Strawson, etc. and I'm trying to convince them that they should think about making searchable bodies of ordinary language using the computers that Alan Turing is working on and they're laughing at me: 020
Nat Hansen @nathansen.bsky.social · 31/03/2026The next round of Zed and my work on aesthetic judgment and conversation: inspired by Susan Sontag we make the case for "seriousness" in aesthetic judgment and against vibing, communitarianism and the "omnivore monoculture". onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...onlinelibrary.wiley.comThe Very Idea of SeriousnessWhat norms govern aesthetic conversations? In Hansen and Adams (2024), we argue for a norm we call, following Stanley Cavell, “the hope of agreement”, along with a requirement of “seriousness”, the “... 083
Reposted by Nat Hansenlindsay thomas @lindsaythomas.net · 16/02/2026This is just another way of saying that I love mixed methods work, I guess. Archival research? Yes! Data collection? Yes! Quantitative analysis? Yes! Close reading? Yes! Case studies? Yes! Theoretical speculation? Yes! Let’s do it all why not 1164