Here’s yet another article on the global brain.
Kafka’s In The Penal Colony
If ever there was a mind that captured the modern condition (our current condition) it is Franz Kafka. Not only that, he must rate as the preeminent novelist of ideas without them being the ideas of the learned man trotted out self-consciously by most (academics and literati) who would be flattered by that appellation. First published in October 1919 here is Kafka’s In the Penal Colony. Since this was the only Kafka piece that I felt could be translated to the screen, years back I wrote a screenplay that faithfully followed this text. Though it never made it to the screen I can see it in my mind eye unmodulated by others’ vision.
Humanity 2.0: Steve Fuller takes an “extended” turn
Steve Fuller arguably the best-known social epistemologist in the sociological tradition seems to have taken an extended mind/distributed cognition/cyborgian turn. Steve by the way (as was Susan Haack in my previous post) most generous in participating in the first EPISTEME volume and conference, especially significant since he is the founding editor of Social Epistemology. The cover of Steve’s latest bears a striking resemblance to Andy Clark’s Natural-Born Cyborgs. Judging from the article it seems that Steve would have much in common with another major extended theorist – Rob Wilson and his What Sorts of People Should There Be? project.
In all this, it’s not so much that we’ve been losing our humanity but that it’s becoming projected or distributed across things that lack a human body.
Susan Haack – Epistemology: who needs it?
I had the great pleasure of listening to Susan Haack today. Her talk was entitled “Epistemology: Who Needs It?” (see the abstract below). She was wonderfully lucid and engaging without ever coming over as dry or pompous nor losing her stance as a “passionate and unfashionable moderate.” She would be the perfect ambassador for the public understanding of science. Susan must rate as one of the greatest female philosophers around whose expertise ranges from the highly technical to the very accessible. To her credit she has never portrayed herself in clichéd “I’m a female philosopher therefore I’m a feminist philosopher” terms. Her intellectual honesty and openness is beyond reproach. Susan is also a most generous person. She kindly agreed to participate in the first issue of EPISTEME that I edited. Not only that, she hopped off a plane in London for the launch of EPISTEME from China feeling like crap and being the trooper that she is, delivered her paper without any indication of her discomfort. She also participated in the EPISTEME Dartmouth conference three years ago – see her paper here. My favourite book of hers is admittedly not her best one – but it somehow captures her – Manifesto of a Passionate Moderate. Her best and most challenging book is Evidence and Inquiry.
Epistemology: Who Needs It?
This reflection on the real-world relevance of epistemological ideas begins with the thought that all of us—when we wonder what to make of newspaper reports of supposed medical breakthroughs, of failures of military intelligence, etc., etc.— call, implicitly or explicitly, on epistemology; and shows how an understanding of, e.g., the differences between genuine inquiry and advocacy research, the nature of wishful and fearful thinking, and the material character of the relevance and its bearing on what relevant evidence we may be missing, can illuminate the ways in which inquiry can go wrong and evidence can mislead us.
Why Alex Rosenberg is a Naturalist
Alex Rosenberg in the NYT.
Adam Smith and Mirror Neurons
It is wonderful at last to see the Adam Smith of The theory of moral sentiments rather than The wealth of nations finally getting some attention. Smith’s moral psychology is amazingly presient. Here is one of the better articles by the very talented Nicolas Baumard making the connection.
Wiki-to-speech: stigmergy
Here is a video intended to stigmergically (a) promote wiki-to-speech and (b) using the concept of stigmergy to illustrate the script’s capabilities.
Gintis on Hayek
Check out this recent paper by Herb Gintis entitled Hayek’s “Contribution to a Reconstruction of Economic Theory.” Herb’s paper is, I think, going to be part of an edited collection that I’m also contributing to and am still polishing up. I had the pleasure of meeting Herb just over a year ago at the Society for Behavioral Economics conference in San Diego. I recently read Herb’s The Bounds of Rationality – the title a clear nudge and a wink to that other Herb – H. A. Simon’s famous phrase. And it’s endorsed by none other Nobel laureate Vernon Smith who I happened to meet this past May at a conference.
Group agency
Here’s a recent co-authored book from Christian List. CL is probably the leading theorist in this area and one of the best philosophers around who, not so long ago, was not affiliated with a philosophy department (I see that he now has a joint appointment with the Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method). How the F*** does he manage to be so productive and maintain such quality? Professionally he is on the steepest projectory of our generation. Astonishing! RESPECT. And he is still an EPISTEME associate editor!
Taking the world as it is
Here is a short article from last December on Oakeshott in The Spectator by Andrew Sullivan that I’ve just come across. I think Andrew captures much of the temperamental appeal Oakeshott has for me – I was an Oakeshottian before I knew who the man was! Anyway, stay tuned for Paul Franco and my co-edited volume A Companion to Michael Oakeshott. Andrew here repeats the lovely Oakeshott response Andrew once told me:
I remember telling him I thought I would become a journalist after my PhD. His face fell. ‘I’ve always thought the need to know the news every day is a nervous disorder,’ he said, with a slight grin.
