Joost Ziff
@joostziff.com
Philosopher. Writing about self-knowledge, deliberation, and phenomenology. Skeets are my own and not my institution's.
Turns out chainsaws are pretty useful when you bought a cord of firewood and 80% of it was too big for your woodstove.
January 21, 2026 at 1:57 AM
Turns out chainsaws are pretty useful when you bought a cord of firewood and 80% of it was too big for your woodstove.
Reading Levinas for my long-suffering free will paper, and though he is very hard and annoying to read, he does say some sensible things sometimes!
January 14, 2026 at 6:12 PM
Reading Levinas for my long-suffering free will paper, and though he is very hard and annoying to read, he does say some sensible things sometimes!
@howarda-atlaw.bsky.social it's impressive how almost everything in your post here is wrong about the facts. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/09/n...
January 10, 2026 at 12:39 PM
@howarda-atlaw.bsky.social it's impressive how almost everything in your post here is wrong about the facts. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/09/n...
the unwilling addict lacks freedom of the will because they have a second order desire to not want to be addicted which they cannot align with their first-order desire to take drugs. So far, so good!
But where I disagree is that, it seems, Frankfurt thinks about this desire relationship as static.
But where I disagree is that, it seems, Frankfurt thinks about this desire relationship as static.
November 13, 2025 at 2:04 AM
the unwilling addict lacks freedom of the will because they have a second order desire to not want to be addicted which they cannot align with their first-order desire to take drugs. So far, so good!
But where I disagree is that, it seems, Frankfurt thinks about this desire relationship as static.
But where I disagree is that, it seems, Frankfurt thinks about this desire relationship as static.
(🧵) Been reading Frankfurt's "Freedom of the Will and the Concept of a Person" more and it's both a very good paper and also seems to be missing something fundamental about how we exercise our will.
Frankfurt claims that freedom of will is all about the alignment of first and second-order desires.
Frankfurt claims that freedom of will is all about the alignment of first and second-order desires.
November 13, 2025 at 2:04 AM
(🧵) Been reading Frankfurt's "Freedom of the Will and the Concept of a Person" more and it's both a very good paper and also seems to be missing something fundamental about how we exercise our will.
Frankfurt claims that freedom of will is all about the alignment of first and second-order desires.
Frankfurt claims that freedom of will is all about the alignment of first and second-order desires.
Former white house ethics lawyer apparently under the delusion the rules matter:
November 13, 2024 at 4:31 AM
Former white house ethics lawyer apparently under the delusion the rules matter: