Quantifying the Human
Seminar
Quantitative measurement in the human sciences remains controversial. Are depression scales, intelligence tests, etc. valid measurement instruments? Do they deliver quantitative or merely ordinal information? Cristian discusses two approaches for understanding practices of quantitative measurement…
Work, Leisure, and the Sources of Meaning in Life
Seminar
Matthew begins with the question ‘what is work?’ Many argue that ‘work’ is a hopelessly indeterminate term that cannot be adequately defined. Against this view, he defends a novel account of what work is. Building on this, he then develops accounts of three other types of human activity that can be…
Transitions in individuality and mesoscale structure
Seminar
In some ways, questions concerning individuality and evolutionary transitions in individuality appear to be uniquely biological. However, many of the underlying concerns regarding the enduring status of collectives and the emergence of higher-level individuals can also be found in other contexts —…
Young Wittgenstein and Russell’s multiple relation theory of judgement
Seminar
In June 1913, Bertrand Russell abandoned writing a book (partly published in 1984 under the title Theory of Knowledge), apparently because of a “paralysing” objection made to him by the 24-year-old Ludwig Wittgenstein, then a research student at Cambridge. Wittgenstein’s objection was directed…
Transformers and the Format of Thought
Seminar
Transformers are an extraordinarily powerful computational architecture, applicable across a range of domains. They are, notably, the computational foundation of contemporary Large Language Models (LLMs). LLMs’ facility with language have led many to draw analogies between LLMs and human cognitive…
Decision Theory Presupposes Free Will
Seminar
This paper argues that decision theory presupposes free will. Although decision theorists seldom acknowledge this, the way decision theory represents, explains, or rationalises choice behaviour acquires its intended interpretation only under the assumption that decision-makers are agents capable of…
Moral powers and institutional norms
Seminar
It is a familiar fact about social life that, by doing things like entering into contracts, getting married, consenting, and the like, we can change the profile of our legal permissions, rights, and prohibitions. Our ability to do so, in turn, stems from the legal powers the law confers upon us. A…