Evan Westra
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evanwestra.bsky.social
Evan Westra
@evanwestra.bsky.social
2.4K followers 1.4K following 360 posts
Philosopher writing about theory of mind, moral psychology, character judgment, social norms. I bore undergraduates for a living. All opinions are my own. #philosophy #philsky
he/him
https://sites.google.com/site/ewestraphilosophy/
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evanwestra.bsky.social
Don't forget to submit your philosophy and psychology papers to SSPP 2026 in Atlanta! It's going to be a banger.
southernsociety.org/AnnualMeeting/
November 11, 2025 at 10:22 PM
evanwestra.bsky.social
One nice thing about returning home from a conference trip is all the help I get while unpacking my suitcase
A cat sitting in an open suitcase on a bed
September 22, 2025 at 3:17 PM
evanwestra.bsky.social
Why do all male-branded personal care products sound like they're named after gay porn stars?
Image of a store shelf with bottles of shampoo and body wash, with brands like "Every Man Jack" and "Duke Cannon"
September 1, 2025 at 9:55 PM
evanwestra.bsky.social
August 31st/September 1st on leave
Homer Simpson in a hammock wearing a Hawaiian shirt and straw hat pouring beer into a coconut Homer Simpson in a hammock wearing a Hawaiian shirt and straw hat pouring beer into a coconut
August 31, 2025 at 2:41 PM
evanwestra.bsky.social
I'm pretty sure he's supposed to be Josef Perner:
A guy who looks like Josef Perner
August 13, 2025 at 11:28 PM
evanwestra.bsky.social
I'm reading Perner's Understanding the Representational Mind (1991), and boy are these figures wild:
August 13, 2025 at 3:52 PM
evanwestra.bsky.social
Staring contest
In the top part of the image is a reproduction of Paul Klee's Dynamism of a Head, underneath is a cat sitting on a couch staring at the camera
August 11, 2025 at 12:48 PM
evanwestra.bsky.social
Listening to Chappell Roan's "The Subway" and imagining it's about a philosophy department that regrets not hiring me when they had the chance
Chappell Roan looking forlorn on the subway
August 8, 2025 at 9:03 AM
evanwestra.bsky.social
Relatable stuff in the latest Daily Nous post!
dailynous.com/2025/07/29/t...
Some of us are secretly farting in Q&A. You know who you are. Some of you make a sport out of it. Some of you bring beans to conferences. Some of you read an impeccable paper and cannot help but check what the author smells like, because they might be gassy. Since flatulence is a part of your life, it is part of how you network within your discipline. You are what I will call *a tooter*.
July 29, 2025 at 1:27 PM
evanwestra.bsky.social
Hammer Down, CAIC'ed up.
A cartoon of a man with a large butt wearing a hard hat and holding a hammer, with a gold shirt and black pants.
July 23, 2025 at 7:44 PM
evanwestra.bsky.social
I was thinking more about Mercier and Sperber (but @cdutilhnovaes.bsky.social is great also!)
July 23, 2025 at 4:03 PM
evanwestra.bsky.social
This is where I post from:
July 18, 2025 at 11:31 PM
evanwestra.bsky.social
Sick of that me but still want to read about how virtue signaling is compatible with being a better person? Then read this much better paper by Leda Berio
philpapers.org/rec/BERWMM-2
(Leda I can't seem to find you on Bsky, sorry you're not tagged)
ABSTRACT In engaging in public moral discourse and publicly visible moral behavior, our motivations can be mixed: while on the one hand we might want to genuinely commit to norms we find morally virtuous, we can also be strongly motivated by enhancing our reputation. At times, we might even be accused of “virtue signaling”, that is, of engaging in moral discourse for self-aggrandizing and reputational gains. We might consider these reputational motives as a barrier to moral progress. In this paper, I rely on insights from norm psychology and on the mindshaping framework to suggest that our reputation-guided behavior can, in some instances, actively change us for the better. In particular, I argue that by adhering to social myths in a reputationally motivated way, we might end up exercising self-directed mindshaping, and change the way we see ourselves, the stories we tell about our ourselves, and how we behave
July 13, 2025 at 3:11 PM
evanwestra.bsky.social
I decided to write up a brief template for book reviews in philosophy. What do we think, #philsky?
Philosophy Book Review Template State the overarching challenge/problem that this book aims to address. At a high level (i.e., in terms of parts of the book rather than chapter by chapter), state how the author goes about addressing this problem, and where they ultimately land. State the strengths of the book as a whole, and then indicate how you will be constructively engaging with it. Give a more detailed summary of the book. Cover important, interesting chapters in greater detail, lump together less interesting, important chapters. You may make some brief critical comments in this part of the review, but your main goal is to give readers a sense of the content of the book. In the remainder of the review, constructively engage with the book. Depending on word-limit, you might confine this to one central argument, or you take up a few separate points. Avoid giving a laundry list of disparate criticisms. This part of the review may take the form of a critique of some of the key arguments or assumptions made in the book, address what you see as important gaps/omissions in the book, or it may show how ideas from the book are relevant to some further set of questions/problems. Wrap up.
July 8, 2025 at 5:57 PM
evanwestra.bsky.social
This is kind of a thing! H/t @jimaceverett.bsky.social
July 4, 2025 at 2:05 PM
evanwestra.bsky.social
Look Ma! I'm in a book! @dryan149.bsky.social
Man in 30s holding up Routledge Handbook of Mindshaping
June 27, 2025 at 11:18 PM
evanwestra.bsky.social
Hats off to @oldjerryfodor.bsky.social and @levelsof.bsky.social for a great #SPP2025!
June 22, 2025 at 6:42 PM
evanwestra.bsky.social
Happy Estimated 1st Birthday to my cat Tilly, and to all those who celebrate.
A young tabby cat looking out a window A grey tabby cat biting a man's hand
May 14, 2025 at 2:07 PM
evanwestra.bsky.social
Just leveled up my office door game:
April 15, 2025 at 5:43 PM
evanwestra.bsky.social
Watching at home is better if you have pets.
March 29, 2025 at 7:26 PM
evanwestra.bsky.social
March 26, 2025 at 12:35 AM
evanwestra.bsky.social
Naturally!
February 23, 2025 at 8:30 PM
evanwestra.bsky.social
This is Tilly. She enjoys biting, destroying furniture, launching herself at you and climbing onto your shoulders, and sticking her butt in your face. But she's a good cat.
February 23, 2025 at 1:19 PM
evanwestra.bsky.social
Mood:
January 25, 2025 at 4:00 PM
evanwestra.bsky.social
I've been working on a new, introductory-level moral psychology (PHIL) class for this term. Here's the tentative schedule:
January 6, 2025 at 6:53 PM