Aidan McGlynn
LightNews LightNews
banner
aidanmcglynn.bsky.social
Aidan McGlynn
@aidanmcglynn.bsky.social
5.5K followers 750 following 7.4K posts
Glaswegian philosopher based at the University of Edinburgh, mostly working on issues in epistemology and feminist philosophy. Co-editor of Hypatia, research associate at ACEPS, University of Johannesburg. He/him. https://sites.google.com/site/aidanmcglynn
Posts Replies Media Videos
aidanmcglynn.bsky.social
That…is a view
A window with the south face of Edinburgh Castle framed, very close by and filling the whole view.
November 26, 2025 at 1:55 PM
aidanmcglynn.bsky.social
I simply refuse to believe that anyone wants this combination of flavours, in whisky or in anything else
A 'character' list of flavours for a whisky, with pictures of each item. The list is wax, kiwi, white pepper, marzipan, cream, and sherry
November 24, 2025 at 8:55 PM
aidanmcglynn.bsky.social
The 4s of the Tractatus Cryptex, an artistic representation of the book's structure - click the link to see all 7, and for details: www.wittgensteinproject.org/w/index.php/...
An abstract circular diagram with a numeral 4 in a light red circle in the centre, and smaller numbered red circles arrayed around in making complicated patterns.
November 23, 2025 at 7:58 PM
aidanmcglynn.bsky.social
I'm not sure I wholly trust the search function
A screen shot of the book preview of my new book, showing a bit of the cover and a search box. The term 'epistemic' has been searched, and it has returned the answer "no results found for epistemic".
November 22, 2025 at 5:58 PM
aidanmcglynn.bsky.social
Here's pages 3 and 4 of the forthcoming book:
Introduction: Epistemic Matters 1. Epistemic Everything Everywhere All at Once A recent pattern in academic philosophy over the past 20 or so years has involved relentlessly adding the word ‘epistemic’ in front of almost every other word. Examples include: epistemic infringement; epistemic apprenticeships; epistemic oppression; epistemic failure; epistemic vices; epistemic atonement; epistemic weaponry; epistemic injustice; epistemic phariseeism; epistemic slurs; the epistemic apocalypse; epistemic health; epistemic inoculation; epistemic complicity; epistemic dehumanisation; epistemic appropriation; epistemic trespassing; epistemic violence; epistemic rights; epistemic death; epistemic exploitation; epistemic redlining; epistemic reparations; epistemic sanity; the epistemic IKEA effect; epistemic apathy; epistemic shamelessness; epistemic utopia; and epistemic exhaustion. This trend shows no sign of slowing down; on the contrary, it can seem like we’re only a short distance along an exponential curve, with new additions to the list almost every week. Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that studies things like knowledge, evidence, understanding, justification, wisdom, warrant, and so on. Traditionally, it examines how we learn about the world and ourselves, the nature of knowledge and understanding and other states of this kind the scope and limits of what we can know, how to respond to the ‘sceptic’ who argues that our beliefs are rarely if ever justified or warranted, and other issues like these. ‘Epistemic’ is an adjective that picks out things as falling under epistemology’s remit; the epistemic is what epistemology studies. Knowledge is an epistemic state; indeed, it’s the paradigm of an epistemic state. Knowledge is a relationship between thinkers (or perhaps groups of thinkers) and the world, involving those thinkers recognising how things are in the world. That might sound rather abstract, but examples couldn’t be more familiar; I know where my keys are right now, and I know the last four digits of my phone number (at least when I have had sufficient caffeine), and this is a matter of me recognising certain things about the world―the location of my keys in it, and the digits of my phone number. To describe something as epistemic is a way of somehow relating it to knowledge and other epistemic states, such as those I’ve already mentioned. So why has there been such an explosion of interest in epistemic…stuff? In particular, why has there been such a focus on prefixing ‘epistemic’ to stuff that doesn’t seem all that closely related to epistemology’s traditional concerns (for example, weaponry, slurs, violence)? Is there anything philosophically interesting behind the ‘epistemic X’ pattern? Is it just herd-mentality combined with the influence of a few philosophical trend-setters (dynamics which philosophers are not always as immune to as we like to think, or like others to think)? Or is it a slightly odd marketing-gimmick: a way to try to make research that might pass by relatively unnoticed seem like it’s part of a hot new trend?
November 20, 2025 at 6:13 PM
aidanmcglynn.bsky.social
And an office shot for completeness, though not a particularly distinctive one - I’d like to get a snowy one at some point this winter
A shot of Arthur’s Seat and the Salisbury Crags over rooftops and under a very blue sky. Everything looks cold.
November 20, 2025 at 4:23 PM
aidanmcglynn.bsky.social
The summit of Arthur’s Seat peaking over the top of buildings around campus
November 20, 2025 at 4:10 PM
aidanmcglynn.bsky.social
The philosopher David Lewis, sporting his distinctive long beard, with a speech bubble below to make it look like he's voicing the quoted post. The post is by Jonathan Edward Durham and says 'Somewhere in a parallel universe there’s a platter of deviled eggs sitting on their couch thinking about fucking destroying me in two weeks'
November 15, 2025 at 4:36 PM
aidanmcglynn.bsky.social
Picked up some philosophy to listen to this month to atone for my (on-going) Dan Brown-related sins
A page to show what I've added to my audible library. It's 'Meaning: A Very Short Introduction' by Emma Borg and Sarah Fisher and 'Transformative Experience' by L A Paul.
November 11, 2025 at 1:30 PM
aidanmcglynn.bsky.social
Some photos of the centre this morning - a touch on the grey side, but it still looks okay
There’s a stained grey wall in the foreground, but over it you can see the Scott monument on the right and the castle in the distance on the left. A black and white shot of some well-known tenements near Waverley station in Edinburgh. You can see the crown of St Giles cathedral over the top of the buildings. The Scott monument, a large rocket-shaped monument in brown stone with red lights adding highlights.
November 8, 2025 at 1:54 PM
aidanmcglynn.bsky.social
Jon Hamm as Don Draper in Mad Men, smartly dressed in a lift and saying 'I don't think about you at all'. He is labelled 'onions' in this version of the meme.
November 8, 2025 at 10:49 AM
aidanmcglynn.bsky.social
Got flu vaccine (was expecting a covid one too, but sadly no dice), and I asked them to administer to my left arm. I am right handed, but I’d managed to forget that I primarily use my left for walking stick…

A picture of Thunderbird 3, since I passed by on way to my appointment.
The Scott monument in Edinburgh - a tall rocket-shaped monument, in brown stone but highlighted with red lights
November 8, 2025 at 9:32 AM
aidanmcglynn.bsky.social
Office hour - the light just now is fantastic
A view of Arthur’s Seat and the Salisbury Crags over rooftops. There is golden light on half of a church spire and some of the trees and buildings, and the rest is in shadow.
November 7, 2025 at 3:18 PM
aidanmcglynn.bsky.social
A familiar view from the Dugald Stewart building (as it’s still called for now)
A shot of Arthur’s Seat and the Salisbury crags under a very clear blue sky.
November 7, 2025 at 3:09 PM
aidanmcglynn.bsky.social
One of the Italian guys from Lionfield wearing a white t-shirt and making an Italian gesture suggesting he is aggitated while speaking. The caption reads 'angry Italian answer'
November 5, 2025 at 5:50 PM
aidanmcglynn.bsky.social
Dame más Rockalina
A picture of me smiling at the camera, with a plushie of Rockalina, an eastern box turtle, grinning in the bottom of the frame.
November 3, 2025 at 5:08 PM
aidanmcglynn.bsky.social
Took the boys to ‘Goo Times’, an all-ages gig and slime-making show at Good Times as part of the launch tour of Pictish Trail’s ‘Life Slime’
A wall of 12-inch sleeves for Pictish Trail’s album Life Slime. The cover has his face starring out through lots of pink slime. Pictish Trail, a white bearded guy, playing a guitar wearing a baseball cap and a slimy sweater that promotes his new album.
November 1, 2025 at 6:07 PM
aidanmcglynn.bsky.social
"a bit too much fuss" - perfect, from Elizabeth Barnes's paper in the special issue of PQ in memory of Katherine
Thanks to Liam Kofi Bright, Ross Cameron, Anna Kietzerow, the St. Andrews feminist philosophy reading group, and anonymous referees for helpful discussion and comments. And more thanks than I could possibly express to Katherine Hawley, who was my PhD supervisor, my mentor, and my hero. It is an honour to be included in this special issue, which I’m sure she would’ve appreciated but also regarded as a bit too much fuss.
November 1, 2025 at 1:40 PM
aidanmcglynn.bsky.social
I was already pretty annoyed by this trend, and then Doves, one of my favourite bands, stabbed me in the back
October 31, 2025 at 10:44 PM
aidanmcglynn.bsky.social
Also relevant - my favourite youtube comment on Brian Eno's 'Ambient 1: Music for Airports':
A comment from 'Sir Meshy' that reads 'waitin for dat drop......'
October 30, 2025 at 6:09 PM
aidanmcglynn.bsky.social
New seasonal cap - not as good as the last one, but that was particularly amazing
A knitted cap on top of a post box. It’s green, with a black cat sitting behind four pumpkins.
October 27, 2025 at 4:49 PM
aidanmcglynn.bsky.social
Just spotted that the two halves of the tree change differently in the Autumn too
A tree with one trunk, but the leaves on one side are staying green and on the other are turning a rusty red.
October 22, 2025 at 7:49 PM
aidanmcglynn.bsky.social
The final issue of Hypatia for 2025, 40.4, is now up: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
A gold flyer announcing that the new issue of Hypatia is now available. The flyer has a detail from the front cover of the journal running along its centre, depicting various abstract women's faces and hair in different shades of blue.
October 22, 2025 at 12:19 PM
aidanmcglynn.bsky.social
Same, sign, same
An electronic sign covered in an orange case that reads “! I am currently being repaired, sorry for any inconvenience”
October 22, 2025 at 9:42 AM
aidanmcglynn.bsky.social
Youngest's primary school are having a special Halloween menu next week and they've decided to go for wizard brains in blood this year, which rather smashes through the dividing line between 🎃spooky🦇 and bizarrely horrifying
Wizard Brains in a Red, Oozy Sauce Chicken meatballs in a tomato sauce: Contains one of the 14 allergens
October 20, 2025 at 6:28 PM