Florida State University: FSU philosopher awarded NEH grant to archive, translate the works of a trailblazing German philosopher

Florida State University: FSU philosopher awarded NEH grant to archive, translate the works of a trailblazing German philosopher. “A researcher from Florida State University’s Department of Philosophy, part of the College of Arts and Sciences, has received a $300,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to explore and archive the works of the renowned 18th-century German philosopher Johannes Nikolaus Tetens.”

The Philosopher’s Archive in the Digital Age: David Lewis and His Correspondence (guest post) (Daily Nous)

Daily Nous: The Philosopher’s Archive in the Digital Age: David Lewis and His Correspondence (guest post) . “‘There are both intellectual and practical questions here. On the intellectual side, a major question is how the medium of email affects the communication and discussion of philosophical ideas… On the practical side… how do we approach the job of preserving a philosopher’s emails after her death, assuming there is sufficient scholarly interest in her correspondence?’ These questions are among those raised by Helen Beebee (University of Manchester) and Anthony Fisher (University of Washington) in the following guest post*, in which they describe some of their work organizing and publishing the correspondence of David Lewis….” The asterisk appears to link to the “About” page for the Daily Nous, so it’s not a specific disclaimer.

UC Irvine: UCI scholar launches database dedicated to German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

UC Irvine: UCI scholar launches database dedicated to German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. “An expert on the German philosophical tradition from the Enlightenment to the present, [Professor John H.] Smith has written previously on Goethe. As the co-editor-in-chief of the project, Smith is leading a transnational team of 22 scholars representing 17 universities. Their goal is to make Goethe’s thought available to scholars outside of the German-speaking world and to help scholars connect with Goethe’s work. Each year, they plan to add 10-15 entries on Goethe’s work for a total of 200-300 entries. This project’s ultimate aim though is to turn accepted ideas of how philosophy can influence art on their head by instead showing how a creative writer had input on philosophical thought.”

The Next Web: This Philosopher AI has its own existential questions to answer

The Next Web: This Philosopher AI has its own existential questions to answer. “A new Philosopher AI could help you find meaning in a meaningless world — as long as you don’t ask it any controversial questions. The system provides musings on subjects that have plagued humanity since its inception. You can ask it about a topic that’s filling you with existential angst. It then uses OpenAI‘s GPT-3 text generator to analyze your text and spit back a life-affirming/soul-destroying response.” I do not recommend trying this if you have a heavy burden of despair right now.

Blog of the APA: Academic journal The Philosopher joins with Exact Editions to put their archive online

Blog of the APA: Academic journal The Philosopher joins with Exact Editions to put their archive online. “Recently, the academic journal The Philosopher decided to partner with the company Exact Editions to put their archive online in digital format. Many articles from past decades will be more easily available to researchers because of this move. In order to understand its significance, I talked with Exact Editions co-founder Adam Hodgkin and The Philosopher editor Anthony Morgan.”

Quartz: Google Translate is a manifestation of Wittgenstein’s theory of language

Quartz: Google Translate is a manifestation of Wittgenstein’s theory of language. “More than 60 years after philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein’s theories on language were published, the artificial intelligence behind Google Translate has provided a practical example of his hypotheses. Patrick Hebron, who works on machine learning in design at Adobe and studied philosophy with Wittgenstein expert Garry Hagberg for his bachelor’s degree at Bard College, notes that the networks behind Google Translate are a very literal representation of Wittgenstein’s work.”

Quartz: 150 years ago, a philosopher showed why it’s pointless to start arguments on the internet

Quartz: 150 years ago, a philosopher showed why it’s pointless to start arguments on the internet. “Wildly inaccurate facts and spurious arguments are unavoidable features of social media. Yet no matter how infuriatingly wrong someone is, or just how much counter-evidence you have at your disposal, starting arguments on the internet rarely gets anyone to change their mind. Nearly a century-and-a-half ago, British philosopher John Stuart Mill explained, in a few clear sentences, why certain arguments simply won’t go anywhere. As historian Robert Saunders notes, Mill’s analysis neatly applies to heated and futile internet debates.”