Reading

Created
Mon, 30/01/2023 - 22:00
What should our norms be regarding the publishing of philosophical work created with the help of large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT or other forms of artificial intelligence? In a recent article, the editors of Nature put forward their position, which they think is likely to be adopted by other journals: First, no LLM tool will be accepted as a credited author on a research paper. That is because any attribution of authorship carries with it accountability for the work, and AI tools cannot take such responsibility. Second, researchers using LLM tools should document this use in the methods or acknowledgements sections. If a paper does not include these sections, the introduction or another appropriate section can be used to document the use of the LLM. A few comments about these: a. It makes sense to not ban use of the technology. Doing so would be ineffective, would incentivize hiding its use, and would stand in opposition to the development of new effective and ethical uses of the technology in research. b. The requirement to document how the LLMs were used in the research and writing is reasonable but vague.
Created
Mon, 30/01/2023 - 21:00
David Bronstein, previously lecturer in philosophy at the University of New South Wales, last fall became Senior Research Fellow/Associate Professor at the Institute for Ethics & Society at The University of Notre Dame Australia in Sydney. Dr. Bronstein works in Ancient Greek philosophy, and has interests in ethics, epistemology, philosophy of science, logic, and metaphysics in Plato, Aristotle, and beyond. He was recently awarded a 2023 Future Fellowship by the Australian Research Council. Valued at $777,019 over four years, the grant will support his research on “Virtue with Aristotle: Recovering an Ancient Ethical Theory for Our Time” The project aims to show how Aristotle’s theory of virtue can guide our individual and collective attempts to live good human lives in challenging times. You can learn more about Dr. Bronstein’s work here and here.
Created
Mon, 30/01/2023 - 20:00
The weekly report on new and revised entries at online philosophy resources and new reviews of philosophy books… SEP New: Legal Rights by Ori Herstein. Ernst Bloch by Ivan Boldyrev. Fitting Attitude Theories of Value by Christopher Howard. Revised: Ibn Bâjja [Avempace] by Josep Puig Montada. Dewey’s Moral Philosophy by Elizabeth Anderson. Bernard Williams by Sophie-Grace Chappell and Nicholas Smyth. Alfred Tarski by Mario Gómez-Torrente. Children’s Rights by David William Archard. Ibn Rushd’s Natural Philosophy by Josep Puig Montada. Négritude by Souleymane Bachir Diagne. Metaethics by Geoff Sayre-McCord. Coercion by Scott Anderson. Modal Logic by James Garson. IEP     ∅ NDPR     ∅ 1000-Word Philosophy     ∅          Project Vox     ∅ Recent Philosophy Book Reviews in Non-Academic Media On Paradox: The Claims of Theory by Elizabeth Anker is reviewed by Michael W. Clune at Los Angeles Review of Books. How to Say No: An Ancient Guide to the Art of Cynicism by Diogenes and the Cynics, and M.D. Usher (ed., trans.), is reviewed by Costica Bradatan at The Times Literary Supplement. Justice for Animals: Our Collective Responsibility by Martha Nussbaum is reviewed by Sigal Samuel at Vox.
Created
Mon, 30/01/2023 - 12:00

Ben Selby served as a firefighter in Lincolnshire for almost 20 years before being elected as the next Assistant General Secretary of the Fire Brigades Union. He joined the fire service shortly after the 2002 firefighter dispute, the first nationwide firefighters’ strike in the UK since 1977. ‘It’s a dispute where we won 16 percent […]

Created
Mon, 30/01/2023 - 12:00
I don’t know if you’ve heard about the latest Republican “economic proposal” to abolish the IRS but the details are simply stunning. It’s going to get bottled up in committee most likely because even some of the loons are nervous about it. If you want to see the caliber of “policy” coming from these loons, check this out from the American Prospect: During the negotiations for the recent election of Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) as Speaker of the House, one of the demands of the extremist Freedom Caucus was for a vote on the so-called Fair Tax proposal. This would abolish the IRS along with all existing federal taxes, and replace them with a 30 percent national sales tax. The bill is a political dead letter. Not only could it never possibly pass the Senate, let alone be signed by President Biden—Axios reports that he will deliver a big speech Thursday lambasting the idea—but McCarthy himself recently came out against the plan. It might not even make it out of committee in the House.