iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗 𝙿𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚘𝚗 @stanpatton.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

Philosophy tip: If you want to use the word “better,” you have to pay for it (by specifying its norms). Being like “more people in a world is just better… uh… normlessly!” is straight up goofy.

𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗 𝙿𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚘𝚗 @stanpatton.bsky.social · 10/12/2025

New post at the Stan Stack, where we explore why some dudes try to structure metaethics on "having reasons" and why they lack good reasons to do so. open.substack.com/pub/stanpatt...

The Reason for the Reason

The Facepalms Begotten of Language Mess

𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗 𝙿𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚘𝚗 @stanpatton.bsky.social · 04/12/2025

Lance Bush @lanceindependent.bsky.social and I wrote a takedown of "intuitions" as a normatively-laden concept deserving justificatory weight out of the gate. It's past time to give that notion the heave-ho. open.substack.com/pub/lanceind...

The Intuitions We Don’t Have

1.0 Distinctions, Distinctions, Distinctions

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Reposted by 𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗 𝙿𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚘𝚗

Lance S. Bush @lanceindependent.bsky.social · 07/08/2025

From its description, "1000-Word Philosophy: An Introductory Anthology is a constantly growing collection of over 200 original essays on important philosophical topics. These essays are introductions rather than argumentative articles." However, Nathan Nobis recently wrote this article:

1000wordphilosophy.com

“That’s Subjective”: Subjectivism about Truth, Beauty, and Goodness - 1000-Word Philosophy: An Introductory Anthology

People sometimes say that judgments about what’s true, what’s ethical, what others find beautiful or aesthetically pleasing, and more are "subjective." What does “subjective” really mean? Are judgment...

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𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗 𝙿𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚘𝚗 @stanpatton.bsky.social · 12/07/2025

An indictment of the terms "reliable" and "unreliable" in serious attempts at philosophy, and problems with "-ible/-able" terms generally. open.substack.com/pub/stanpatt...

Reliable & Unreliable are Unreliable

On the Philosophical Abuse of These and Other "-Ible/-Able" Words

𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗 𝙿𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚘𝚗 @stanpatton.bsky.social · 04/07/2025

Latest philosophy post up at the StanStack. I don't post these very often, driving scarcity & value. #philsky #philosophy open.substack.com/pub/stanpatt...

Too Weird Thought Experiments Are Too Weird

You Don't Have to Get Too Weird

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𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗 𝙿𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚘𝚗 @stanpatton.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

"If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves on behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday." - Isaiah 58

𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗 𝙿𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚘𝚗 @stanpatton.bsky.social · 20/03/2025

Turns out, you can show that goodness is bad using pure Facts & Logic. No "feelies" here! open.substack.com/pub/stanpatt...

A Straightforward Argument Against Goodness

(Daisy-Chaining Polysemy's Weird Trick)

𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗 𝙿𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚘𝚗 @stanpatton.bsky.social · 01/03/2025

Two years ago a 50-year-old mystery in Conway's Game of Life was solved. A pattern was discovered that cannot be generated by anything except for itself -- there's no way to procedurally build it within the ruleset. conwaylife.com/forums/viewt...

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Reposted by 𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗 𝙿𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚘𝚗

Nathan @nath-ormond.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

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𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗 𝙿𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚘𝚗 @stanpatton.bsky.social · 31/01/2025

Check out my chat with Dr. Lance Bush about how many boxes to take in Newcomb's Paradox. #philosophy #philsky www.youtube.com/live/pNwGnxd...

youtube.com

Is Newcomb's problem a pseudoproblem?

YouTube video by Lance Independent

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𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗 𝙿𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚘𝚗 @stanpatton.bsky.social · 28/01/2025

When we see what sorts of human foibles Newcomb's Paradox "trolls," it helps us unravel other thought experiments that continue to haunt philosophers even though they should have been dissolved long ago. #philosophy #philsky open.substack.com/pub/stanpatt...

Min/Maxing Newcomb's Paradox

And the Foibles of Philosophers as Puzzle Gamers

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𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗 𝙿𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚘𝚗 @stanpatton.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

After several months, a new article is up at the StanStack. There's a lot here; I hope you get something out of it. #philosophy #philsky stanpatton.substack.com/p/minmaxing-...

stanpatton.substack.com

Min/Maxing Newcomb's Paradox

And the Foibles of Philosophers as Puzzle Gamers

𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗 𝙿𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚘𝚗 @stanpatton.bsky.social · 16/01/2025

We aren't used to talking in the most philosophically safe & coherent framings. This is an issue because "philosophical intuition" probably = "how we're used to framing things."

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𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗 𝙿𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚘𝚗 @stanpatton.bsky.social · 07/01/2025

It is not important for responsibility that you can *actually* do otherwise, only that you could do otherwise *under a counterfactual*. Whether a "yes" is inculpating depends on the job or jobgiver(s). Responsibility was never some ontological property. It's just a component of stewarding practice.

𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗 𝙿𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚘𝚗 @stanpatton.bsky.social · 02/01/2025

"This is not a picture of screw X" is how building this bunk bed is going.

𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗 𝙿𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚘𝚗 @stanpatton.bsky.social · 13/12/2024

If someone is using straight bivalent deduction to persuade you of something, watch out. There's a weird trick that religious (and anti-religious) apologists and other attention-grabbing folks do all the time: #philosophy #philsky open.substack.com/pub/stanpatt...

How "Midstream Bivalence" Spawns Reckless Philosophy

At Least It "SEEMS" To, I Humbly Utter

𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗 𝙿𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚘𝚗 @stanpatton.bsky.social · 11/12/2024

Out: "Is Die Hard a Christmas movie?" In: "Is most philosophical chatter variations on ‘Is Die Hard a Christmas movie?’?” #philsky #philosophy open.substack.com/pub/stanpatt...

And How Many of Them There Are

What Metaphysics Are

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𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗 𝙿𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚘𝚗 @stanpatton.bsky.social · 09/12/2024

You can ride a bike without a helmet. It takes extra time to find and don the helmet, and it feels awkward. Riding without that bulk is quicker and more comfy, even if it invites big risks. Framing "potential" as a property of an object is like riding without a helmet.

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𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗 𝙿𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚘𝚗 @stanpatton.bsky.social · 02/12/2024

"Does this person worship the same God as that person?" has a boringly definitive answer, but definitive answers kill conversations, and dead conversations tell no tales.

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𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗 𝙿𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚘𝚗 @stanpatton.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

"Evidence" does not have a tight meaning, so people will hop from neutral to arbitrarily laden meanings of it. All polysemy is an opportunity for rhetoricians.

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𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗 𝙿𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚘𝚗 @stanpatton.bsky.social · 28/11/2024

A new way to approach Newcomb's Paradox that makes it more intuitive that the only rational choices are "reject the scenario" or "1-box." #philsky #philosophy

𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗 𝙿𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚘𝚗 @stanpatton.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

In epistemology, raise one eyebrow super high whenever you see a syllogism that treats the word "reliable" as if it is a "yes or no" thing, with a single probabilistic threshold to "count."

𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗 𝙿𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚘𝚗 @stanpatton.bsky.social · 24/11/2024

I wanted the commemorative boot glass but also the stout they limit to 8 oz pours...

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𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗 𝙿𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚘𝚗 @stanpatton.bsky.social · 23/11/2024

Q: "If beauty is not an objective feature of things, and is instead in the 'eye of the beholder,' is a thing not beautiful prior to me discovering it?" A: This puzzle, driven by the hybrid subjective & objective nature of beauty, value, etc., is solved by hypothetical framing: "If I had seen it..."

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𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗 𝙿𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚘𝚗 @stanpatton.bsky.social · 23/11/2024

Virtue ethics is evocative, and feels purely objective at first glance. But here morality's stance-dependence just manifests as semantic quibbles about what acts qualify under the virtue & vice labels.

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𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗 𝙿𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚘𝚗 @stanpatton.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

Some feel that nominalism trades away our meaning in order to be truer to reality. But unless our nominalism holds tight to meaning, we won't be true to ourselves. #philsky #philosophy open.substack.com/pub/stanpatt...

What's Down There is Up to Us

Forks in the River

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𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗 𝙿𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚘𝚗 @stanpatton.bsky.social · 19/11/2024

Metaphysical impossibility just means something is ruled out per some lexicon. The so-called Hard Problem does not mean the mind is a "different substance," nor does it mean consciousness is "fundamental," nor does it rule out physical causal closure.

𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗 𝙿𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚘𝚗 @stanpatton.bsky.social · 18/11/2024

This Glider Gun & its function are greater than the sum of its parts*. This Glider Gun & its function are exactly equal to the sum of its parts†. * If the parts' identities are stripped of their relative locations. † If the parts' identities include their relative locations.

media.tenor.com

a bunch of black and white pixelated letters and numbers on a white background .

Alt: Conway's Game of Life, a white grid with black pixels dancing in regular oscillation, generating diagonal-going creatures called Gliders.

𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗 𝙿𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚘𝚗 @stanpatton.bsky.social · 17/11/2024

I am still seeing people use passive "is fitting," "is permitted/permissible," is obligated/obligatory," "supposed to," "is allowed/allowable," " is compulsory," "is required," etc. in serious defenses of moral stance-independence so I gotta, once again, tap the sign.

𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗 𝙿𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚘𝚗 @stanpatton.bsky.social · 16/11/2024

Philosophy's biggest problem, polysemy, can be explored with fun little riddles like this one, from my latest on the StanStack: open.substack.com/pub/stanpatt...

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𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗 𝙿𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚘𝚗 @stanpatton.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

In philosophy, watch out for any word that ends in "-ible/-able"... it's often smoking gun for reification, perhaps even DOUBLE reification: youtu.be/GfLS28jOzf4?...

youtu.be

Philosophy Problem: DOUBLE Reification!?

YouTube video by pattonpatterns

𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗 𝙿𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚘𝚗 @stanpatton.bsky.social · 14/11/2024

Evaluative reification -- the green drivers evaporating from mention -- is not really a mystery. It's explainable and folks do it all the time, even for stuff that's obviously not purely objective.

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𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗 𝙿𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚘𝚗 @stanpatton.bsky.social · 13/11/2024

Even if determinism is true, we have self-determination. But "self-determination" needs to be defined according to what actually happens inside when we ponder & commit.

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𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗 𝙿𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚘𝚗 @stanpatton.bsky.social · 12/11/2024

"Midstream bivalence" is a way we inadvertently launder our stained seemings & wrinkly likelihoods into clean overconfident takes. Here's how it works. #philsky open.substack.com/pub/stanpatt...

How "Midstream Bivalence" Spawns Reckless Philosophy

At Least It "SEEMS" To, I Humbly Utter

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𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗 𝙿𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚘𝚗 @stanpatton.bsky.social · 11/11/2024

Deciphering this surprising title will help us avoid a very common trick folks employ in metaethics. Latest from the StanStack: stanpatton.substack.com/p/its-stance...

stanpatton.substack.com

It's Stance-Independently Wrong to Murder on Moral Antirealism

Act 1: Stance-Dependence

Bryan Gitschlag @bryangitschlag.bsky.social · 11/11/2024

Reposted by 𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗 𝙿𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚘𝚗

Hey all, let’s do some community-building. Introduce yourself & something about yourself. A few ideas… What line of work are you in? What was your favorite subject in school? What skill do you enjoy practicing or want to improve? If you’re an artist please share some of your work. I’ll start…

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𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗 𝙿𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚘𝚗 @stanpatton.bsky.social · 05/12/2023

Reframing metaphysical issues in terms of H-Recipes puts a host of evergreen debates to bed, and is prophylaxis against reification (which corrupts every philosophical branch it touches).

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𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗 𝙿𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚘𝚗 @stanpatton.bsky.social · 04/12/2023

Stare at this chart until you become immune to philosophers using "is justified" in an absolute sense. Epistemology is about striving for truth. Whether a given method is the best way to the truth in some context is contextual, and sometimes we don't know what context we're in.