Catarina Dutilh Novaes 🟥
@cdutilhnovaes.bsky.social
Philosopher at VU Amsterdam
PI of ERC-funded project 'Social Epistemology of Argumentation' (2018-2024)
Author of 'The Dialogical Roots of Deduction' (CUP, 2020) and 'Formal Languages in Logic' (CUP, 2012)
🇧🇷 🇳🇱 (she/her)
PI of ERC-funded project 'Social Epistemology of Argumentation' (2018-2024)
Author of 'The Dialogical Roots of Deduction' (CUP, 2020) and 'Formal Languages in Logic' (CUP, 2012)
🇧🇷 🇳🇱 (she/her)
Pinned
Hi all! I'm a philosopher at VU Amsterdam. Over the past 6 years I've been leading the ERC-funded project 'The Social Epistemology of Argumentation'. With some amazing young scholars, we've been developing more realistic accounts of argumentative processes. I'll post some links to articles below.
Indeed! What also happens is that the masters move on to something *else* that they claim is mysterious & requires ingenuity (now that their previous skills have been democratized by automation), so as to reaffirm their superiority. It's a recurrent phenomenon with novel disruptive technologies.
Way back in 1947, Alan Turing had thoughts on how AI would influence the demand for skilled labor.
(via Matteo Pasquinelli 2023 _The Eye of the Master_)
(via Matteo Pasquinelli 2023 _The Eye of the Master_)
![Roughly speaking those who work in connection with the [automatic computing engine] will be divided into its masters and its servants. Its masters will plan out instruction tables for it, thinking up deeper and deeper ways of using it...The masters are liable to get replaced because as soon as any technique becomes at all stereotyped it becomes possible to devise a system of instruction tables which will enable the electronic computer to do it for itself. It may happen however that the masters will refuse to do this. They may be unwilling to let their jobs be stolen from them in this way. In that case they would surround the whole of their work with mystery and make excuses, couched in well chosen gibberish, whenever any dangerous suggestions were made.
— Alan Turing (1947) Lecture on the Automatic Computing Engine](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:tbqqvyv6pjjww44glrmycaxl/bafkreiajgzfaixqslnz2oftyxfcz2htgwbfisxfeyoospb5o6f3arqwfgu@jpeg)
November 18, 2025 at 8:54 AM
Indeed! What also happens is that the masters move on to something *else* that they claim is mysterious & requires ingenuity (now that their previous skills have been democratized by automation), so as to reaffirm their superiority. It's a recurrent phenomenon with novel disruptive technologies.
That delicious feeling of marking a truly outstanding exam ✨ I've been teaching this course (History of Analytic Philosophy, 2nd year BA) for 6 years; I've had some great students before, but this one is simply off the charts! This student is a true philosophical talent 🤩 #happyteachertoday
November 5, 2025 at 12:46 PM
That delicious feeling of marking a truly outstanding exam ✨ I've been teaching this course (History of Analytic Philosophy, 2nd year BA) for 6 years; I've had some great students before, but this one is simply off the charts! This student is a true philosophical talent 🤩 #happyteachertoday
Met volle overtuiging net op @lucstultiens.bsky.social gestemd! Luc is heel actief geweest om het onderwijs te beschermen tegen de absurde bezuinigingen van het vorige kabinet, die ook steun kregen van oppositiepartijen zoals het CDA. Hop naar een kabinet dat Nederland niet dommer wil maken!
Opmerkelijk vanavond: Bontenbal verweet Timmermans de onderwijsbezuinigingen van VVD/PVV niet te steunen.
Als het CDA een rechte rug had gehouden net als de rest van de oppositie, hoefden scholen en universiteiten in NL nu geen mensen te ontslaan.
Het alternatief lag op tafel, CDA stemde tegen..
Als het CDA een rechte rug had gehouden net als de rest van de oppositie, hoefden scholen en universiteiten in NL nu geen mensen te ontslaan.
Het alternatief lag op tafel, CDA stemde tegen..
October 29, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Met volle overtuiging net op @lucstultiens.bsky.social gestemd! Luc is heel actief geweest om het onderwijs te beschermen tegen de absurde bezuinigingen van het vorige kabinet, die ook steun kregen van oppositiepartijen zoals het CDA. Hop naar een kabinet dat Nederland niet dommer wil maken!
Een best realistische coalitie (nog geen meerderheid maar kan nog zo ver komen) die goed voor de rechtsstaat zou zijn: CDA, GL/PvdA, D66, Volt en CU.
October 20, 2025 at 10:43 AM
Een best realistische coalitie (nog geen meerderheid maar kan nog zo ver komen) die goed voor de rechtsstaat zou zijn: CDA, GL/PvdA, D66, Volt en CU.
Congrats @davidludwig.bsky.social and @charbelelhani.bsky.social 🥳 it’s an amazing book that should be widely read!
The open access pdf has been out for a while but so much more exciting to hold the physical book in my hands!
October 20, 2025 at 9:45 AM
Congrats @davidludwig.bsky.social and @charbelelhani.bsky.social 🥳 it’s an amazing book that should be widely read!
Excellent piece by @timcrane.bsky.social on @schuringa.bsky.social ’s book ‘A Social History of Analytic Philosophy’. My own views on what the book does well and where it is less successful very much align with Tim’s assessment here.
I wrote something about analytic Philospphy, and Christoph Schuringa’s book for the Ideas Letter @stefanschubert.bsky.social @lbenardo.bsky.social www.theideasletter.org/essay/bloodl...
“Bloodless Pedantry” - The Ideas Letter
The academic study of philosophy tends to inspire contempt, from within and from without. Stephen Hawking’s pompous pronouncement in 2010 that “philosophy is dead” is just one version of a…
www.theideasletter.org
October 17, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Excellent piece by @timcrane.bsky.social on @schuringa.bsky.social ’s book ‘A Social History of Analytic Philosophy’. My own views on what the book does well and where it is less successful very much align with Tim’s assessment here.
Reposted by Catarina Dutilh Novaes 🟥
How can science free itself from colonial legacies embedded in its practices? This is the central question driving a new project by Professor Catarina Dutilh Novaes, who joins NIAS in the first semester of 26–27 as the Distinguished NIAS-Lorentz Fellow. @cdutilhnovaes.bsky.social
bit.ly/4mXW0O7
bit.ly/4mXW0O7
October 7, 2025 at 11:12 AM
How can science free itself from colonial legacies embedded in its practices? This is the central question driving a new project by Professor Catarina Dutilh Novaes, who joins NIAS in the first semester of 26–27 as the Distinguished NIAS-Lorentz Fellow. @cdutilhnovaes.bsky.social
bit.ly/4mXW0O7
bit.ly/4mXW0O7
✨Exciting news! ✨
Next year I'll be the Distinguished NIAS-Lorentz Fellow at NIAS (Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study), to work on a project on colonialism in scientific practices. nias.knaw.nl/news/reckoni...
Next year I'll be the Distinguished NIAS-Lorentz Fellow at NIAS (Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study), to work on a project on colonialism in scientific practices. nias.knaw.nl/news/reckoni...
Reckoning with Colonial Legacies in Science | NIAS
How can science free itself from colonial legacies embedded in its practices? This is the central question driving a new project by Professor Catarina Dutilh Novaes, who joins NIAS in the first semest...
nias.knaw.nl
October 7, 2025 at 9:53 AM
✨Exciting news! ✨
Next year I'll be the Distinguished NIAS-Lorentz Fellow at NIAS (Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study), to work on a project on colonialism in scientific practices. nias.knaw.nl/news/reckoni...
Next year I'll be the Distinguished NIAS-Lorentz Fellow at NIAS (Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study), to work on a project on colonialism in scientific practices. nias.knaw.nl/news/reckoni...
Great day! 🥂
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...
Brazil’s supreme court finds Bolsonaro guilty of plotting military coup
Former president faces decades-long jail sentence for seeking to forcibly cling to power after losing 2022 election
www.theguardian.com
September 11, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Great day! 🥂
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...
Reposted by Catarina Dutilh Novaes 🟥
wellicht ook iets waar de politicologen van @stukroodvlees.bsky.social aandacht aan kunnen besteden? ping @hakhverdian.bsky.social @tomwgvdmeer.bsky.social
September 9, 2025 at 3:28 PM
wellicht ook iets waar de politicologen van @stukroodvlees.bsky.social aandacht aan kunnen besteden? ping @hakhverdian.bsky.social @tomwgvdmeer.bsky.social
Reposted by Catarina Dutilh Novaes 🟥
I am advertising two PhD positions in philosophy -- one for a domestic student, one for an international student. Both positions are 1 + 3 years, meaning that the first year is an MRes and the next three years are for the PhD.
www.mq.edu.au/research/phd...
www.mq.edu.au/research/phd...
PhD on the philosophy of networks of trust
This PhD scholarship is intended to benefit a researcher in empirically-oriented philosophy. Learn more and submit an expression of interest.
www.mq.edu.au
September 8, 2025 at 7:33 AM
I am advertising two PhD positions in philosophy -- one for a domestic student, one for an international student. Both positions are 1 + 3 years, meaning that the first year is an MRes and the next three years are for the PhD.
www.mq.edu.au/research/phd...
www.mq.edu.au/research/phd...
It’s BlueSky official now 😄 I’m the incoming president of the European Philosophy Science Association, EPSA @epsaphilsci.bsky.social Wish me luck 😅
🗳️ We are happy to announce that the following members have been elected to the Steering Committee:
- Catarina Dutilh Noaves (President)
- Julie Zahle
- Saana Jukola
- Magdalena Malecka
- Samuel Schindler
- Simon Lohse
- Joanna Karolina Malinowska
Congratulations to them! 👏
- Catarina Dutilh Noaves (President)
- Julie Zahle
- Saana Jukola
- Magdalena Malecka
- Samuel Schindler
- Simon Lohse
- Joanna Karolina Malinowska
Congratulations to them! 👏
September 4, 2025 at 4:36 PM
It’s BlueSky official now 😄 I’m the incoming president of the European Philosophy Science Association, EPSA @epsaphilsci.bsky.social Wish me luck 😅
Reposted by Catarina Dutilh Novaes 🟥
Today at the Urbino Summer School in #Epistemology @cdutilhnovaes.bsky.social raises some objections to the #epistemicinjustice framework #philsky
August 26, 2025 at 8:53 AM
Today at the Urbino Summer School in #Epistemology @cdutilhnovaes.bsky.social raises some objections to the #epistemicinjustice framework #philsky
I just sent off the final typescript of my book 'Reason and Power in Argumentation' to the publisher 🥳
Weird feelings, it's a bit like sending a kid off from home when they go live by themselves 😀 I did what I could to 'raise' this 'baby', and now it will have to fend for itself out in the world 😆
Weird feelings, it's a bit like sending a kid off from home when they go live by themselves 😀 I did what I could to 'raise' this 'baby', and now it will have to fend for itself out in the world 😆
August 16, 2025 at 10:23 AM
I just sent off the final typescript of my book 'Reason and Power in Argumentation' to the publisher 🥳
Weird feelings, it's a bit like sending a kid off from home when they go live by themselves 😀 I did what I could to 'raise' this 'baby', and now it will have to fend for itself out in the world 😆
Weird feelings, it's a bit like sending a kid off from home when they go live by themselves 😀 I did what I could to 'raise' this 'baby', and now it will have to fend for itself out in the world 😆
✨ PhD position available ✨
@loehrgui.bsky.social and I will be running a research project on disruptive technologies from a niche construction perspective, and we're hiring a PhD candidate! Details 👇
Please circulate the add and tell your students about it 😊
workingat.vu.nl/vacancies/ph...
@loehrgui.bsky.social and I will be running a research project on disruptive technologies from a niche construction perspective, and we're hiring a PhD candidate! Details 👇
Please circulate the add and tell your students about it 😊
workingat.vu.nl/vacancies/ph...
Vacancy — PhD Position in Philosophy
Are you keen to contribute to a better understanding of the social, political and epistemic impact of disruptive technologies such as the Internet and AI? Join our interdisciplinary research project f...
workingat.vu.nl
August 14, 2025 at 1:19 PM
✨ PhD position available ✨
@loehrgui.bsky.social and I will be running a research project on disruptive technologies from a niche construction perspective, and we're hiring a PhD candidate! Details 👇
Please circulate the add and tell your students about it 😊
workingat.vu.nl/vacancies/ph...
@loehrgui.bsky.social and I will be running a research project on disruptive technologies from a niche construction perspective, and we're hiring a PhD candidate! Details 👇
Please circulate the add and tell your students about it 😊
workingat.vu.nl/vacancies/ph...
Here's @lisabortolotti.com 's summary of the exciting workshop conspiracy theory and story telling that took place at the University of Birmingham in June, including my talk on conspiratorial beliefs and conspiracy fantasies.
In June, Kathleen Murphy-Hollies hosted a workshop on conspiracy theory and story telling at the University of Birmingham, featuring five exciting academics working on the topic. Today's post presents a brief summary of each of their talks.
#philsky #philpsy
#philsky #philpsy
Conspiracy Theories and Storytelling
A blog about imperfect cognitions, such as delusional beliefs, distorted memories, confabulatory explanations, and implicit biases.
imperfectcognitions.blogspot.com
August 14, 2025 at 8:51 AM
Here's @lisabortolotti.com 's summary of the exciting workshop conspiracy theory and story telling that took place at the University of Birmingham in June, including my talk on conspiratorial beliefs and conspiracy fantasies.
Reposted by Catarina Dutilh Novaes 🟥
@cdutilhnovaes.bsky.social presenting on "A Dialogical Account of Diagrams in Mathematical Proofs" at #Principia2025.
July 29, 2025 at 10:52 PM
@cdutilhnovaes.bsky.social presenting on "A Dialogical Account of Diagrams in Mathematical Proofs" at #Principia2025.
Reposted by Catarina Dutilh Novaes 🟥
Introduction to the Collection ‘Social Epistemology of Argumentation’ by @cdutilhnovaes.bsky.social
Introduction to the Collection ‘Social Epistemology of Argumentation’ - Topoi
Topoi -
doi.org
July 19, 2025 at 12:32 PM
Introduction to the Collection ‘Social Epistemology of Argumentation’ by @cdutilhnovaes.bsky.social
✨Paging the members of the European Philosophy of Science Association (EPSA) @epsaphilsci.bsky.social! ✨
The elections for Steering Committee members are now open, and I'm running for president 😊 Do make sure to vote if you're a member, lots of excellent candidates!
philsci.eu/Elections2025
The elections for Steering Committee members are now open, and I'm running for president 😊 Do make sure to vote if you're a member, lots of excellent candidates!
philsci.eu/Elections2025
European Philosophy of Science Association (EPSA) - Authorization required
philsci.eu
July 17, 2025 at 12:06 PM
✨Paging the members of the European Philosophy of Science Association (EPSA) @epsaphilsci.bsky.social! ✨
The elections for Steering Committee members are now open, and I'm running for president 😊 Do make sure to vote if you're a member, lots of excellent candidates!
philsci.eu/Elections2025
The elections for Steering Committee members are now open, and I'm running for president 😊 Do make sure to vote if you're a member, lots of excellent candidates!
philsci.eu/Elections2025
New paper of mine just published, in a volume commemorating Lakatos' centenary. In the paper, I explain how 'Proofs & Refutations' inspired my dialogical account of deduction, but also the differences between Lakatos' account and mine #OpenAccess #philsci #philsky
link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...
link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...
Proofs as Dialogues: The Enduring Significance of Lakatos for the Philosophy of Mathematical Practice
This paper discusses the enduring significance of Lakatos’ account of mathematical knowledge in in Proofs and Refutations for the philosophy of mathematical practice. While the account has been ...
link.springer.com
July 10, 2025 at 12:41 PM
New paper of mine just published, in a volume commemorating Lakatos' centenary. In the paper, I explain how 'Proofs & Refutations' inspired my dialogical account of deduction, but also the differences between Lakatos' account and mine #OpenAccess #philsci #philsky
link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...
link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...
Dilan Yesilgöz: "Internationaal hebben we afgesproken dat het verketteren van zionisme gelijk staat aan Jodenhaat." 😳
Wie is 'we' hier? Hoezo, 'afgesproken'?! Echt absurd, dit, zelfs voor Yesilgöz...
nos.nl/artikel/2573...
Wie is 'we' hier? Hoezo, 'afgesproken'?! Echt absurd, dit, zelfs voor Yesilgöz...
nos.nl/artikel/2573...
Douwe Bob-tweet had anders gemoeten, zegt VVD-leider Yesilgöz na interne kritiek
VVD'ers hebben twijfels over haar leiderschap en een goede verkiezingsuitslag. Haar kritiek op de zionisme-uitspraak van Douwe Bob valt niet bij iedereen in goede aarde.
nos.nl
July 2, 2025 at 7:56 PM
Dilan Yesilgöz: "Internationaal hebben we afgesproken dat het verketteren van zionisme gelijk staat aan Jodenhaat." 😳
Wie is 'we' hier? Hoezo, 'afgesproken'?! Echt absurd, dit, zelfs voor Yesilgöz...
nos.nl/artikel/2573...
Wie is 'we' hier? Hoezo, 'afgesproken'?! Echt absurd, dit, zelfs voor Yesilgöz...
nos.nl/artikel/2573...
Huge congrats 🥳 Ingrid's research on limitarism is IMO one of the most important philosophical results in recent times.
Such a simple idea, and yet the painstaking work that Ingrid has been doing on it is much needed, given how much resistance there is to something that should be common sense!
Such a simple idea, and yet the painstaking work that Ingrid has been doing on it is much needed, given how much resistance there is to something that should be common sense!
I'm very honoured with the awarding of the 2025 Stevin prize for my research. And I'm particularly pleased that this prize goes to a philosopher, as it recognizes that we not only do blue sky research, but also analyses that can make a difference to the world.
www.nwo.nl/en/prof-dr-i...
www.nwo.nl/en/prof-dr-i...
Prof. Dr. Ingrid Robeyns | NWO
Is there a limit to how much wealth one person should be allowed to accumulate? Ingrid Robeyns believes there should be. She conducts research into inequality and is the founder of ‘limitarianism’. This is particularly relevant at a time when the wealth of the super-rich continues to increase. Limitarianism is a scientifically based worldview. It is an example of how the political philosopher Robeyns challenges thinking about justice, democracy and climate issues. She is receiving this year’s Stevin Prize in recognition of her achievements in knowledge utilisation.
www.nwo.nl
June 27, 2025 at 8:14 AM
Huge congrats 🥳 Ingrid's research on limitarism is IMO one of the most important philosophical results in recent times.
Such a simple idea, and yet the painstaking work that Ingrid has been doing on it is much needed, given how much resistance there is to something that should be common sense!
Such a simple idea, and yet the painstaking work that Ingrid has been doing on it is much needed, given how much resistance there is to something that should be common sense!
Reposted by Catarina Dutilh Novaes 🟥
Friendship with Helen De Cruz (1978-2025). I wrote a little about Helen here. An attempt to remember them.
Friendship with Helen De Cruz (1978-2025)
I’m not a virtue theorist—not in ethics nor in epistemology—but exemplars are nonetheless deeply important to me, and my friend Helen De Cruz has been a central exemplar for me ever since I met them t...
open.substack.com
June 26, 2025 at 10:22 AM
Friendship with Helen De Cruz (1978-2025). I wrote a little about Helen here. An attempt to remember them.
Congrats to Mazviita Chirimuuta 🥳 Richly deserved, it's truly an outstanding book!
🏆 We are pleased to announce the 2025 Lakatos Award winner Mazviita Chirimuuta, who receives the award for her book “The Brain Abstracted: Simplification in the History and Philosophy of Neuroscience”
Congratulations! 👏
👉More about the award: www.lse.ac.uk/philosophy/b...
Congratulations! 👏
👉More about the award: www.lse.ac.uk/philosophy/b...
Mazviita Chirimuuta wins the 2025 Lakatos Award!
The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is pleased to announce the 2025 Lakatos Award winner Mazviita Chirimuuta, who receives the award for her book “The Brain Abstracted:…
www.lse.ac.uk
June 25, 2025 at 8:11 PM
Congrats to Mazviita Chirimuuta 🥳 Richly deserved, it's truly an outstanding book!
Reposted by Catarina Dutilh Novaes 🟥
The workshop "Conceptual Dogmatism: Epistemology and Ethics of Consciousness Raising" takes place today and tomorrow!
Speakers include: @cdutilhnovaes.bsky.social, Rachel Fraser, Hannah Ginsborg, David Plunkett, Julian Ratcliffe, and Tuomo Tiisala.
More info:
Speakers include: @cdutilhnovaes.bsky.social, Rachel Fraser, Hannah Ginsborg, David Plunkett, Julian Ratcliffe, and Tuomo Tiisala.
More info:
News and Events
Conventionalist approaches to areas of discourse such as logic and mathematics were for many years almost universally rejected, but this appears to be changing. Recent years have seen the publication…
buff.ly
June 25, 2025 at 7:01 AM
The workshop "Conceptual Dogmatism: Epistemology and Ethics of Consciousness Raising" takes place today and tomorrow!
Speakers include: @cdutilhnovaes.bsky.social, Rachel Fraser, Hannah Ginsborg, David Plunkett, Julian Ratcliffe, and Tuomo Tiisala.
More info:
Speakers include: @cdutilhnovaes.bsky.social, Rachel Fraser, Hannah Ginsborg, David Plunkett, Julian Ratcliffe, and Tuomo Tiisala.
More info: