Grumpy Philosopher
@stevecooke.org
Grumpy. Associate Professor of Political Philosophy. Animal rights, ethics of activism, political philosophy.
Homepage: https://stevecooke.org/
Homepage: https://stevecooke.org/
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Grumpy Philosopher
@stevecooke.org
· Dec 5
Steve Cooke – Adventures in Philosophy
stevecooke.org
I've built myself a website, which includes a list of journals for animal rights philosophers to submit to (organised by publisher), a couple of syllabi, my essay writing guide for political philosophy students, & articles that philosophers say have changed their minds: stevecooke.org
Reposted by Grumpy Philosopher
Maybe Keir should demand the heads of major US news networks any time they imply Britain is on the brink of civil war or that we live under sharia law. Or does it not work both ways?
November 10, 2025 at 11:29 AM
Maybe Keir should demand the heads of major US news networks any time they imply Britain is on the brink of civil war or that we live under sharia law. Or does it not work both ways?
Reposted by Grumpy Philosopher
I have lost my faith in humanity because people living peacefully in countries like the US, Germany or Austria complain about “war fatigue” while Russia is systematically hunting Ukrainian civilians as part of what they call “human safaris”
Good morning readers; Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands.
In the towns near Ukraine's frontline, Russian FPV drones hunt civilians, a new tactic called a "human safari".
Yana, who lives in Kherson, regularly sees these drones and the damage they cause.
In the towns near Ukraine's frontline, Russian FPV drones hunt civilians, a new tactic called a "human safari".
Yana, who lives in Kherson, regularly sees these drones and the damage they cause.
Russia’s disturbing human ‘safaris’
Violating the laws of war, Russians have created a sick game of hunting civilians with FPV drones near the frontline. We take you behind the scenes, to the people most affected.
www.counteroffensive.news
November 10, 2025 at 3:10 PM
I have lost my faith in humanity because people living peacefully in countries like the US, Germany or Austria complain about “war fatigue” while Russia is systematically hunting Ukrainian civilians as part of what they call “human safaris”
I‘m sure I remember US courts ruling that Trump had engaged in insurrection on 6th July 2021. On that basis, I‘m not sure what grounds Trump has for suing the BBC. It’s hardly defamatory or libellous if it depicts true events. The editing is dishonest, the claims are true. What am I missing?
November 10, 2025 at 2:16 PM
I‘m sure I remember US courts ruling that Trump had engaged in insurrection on 6th July 2021. On that basis, I‘m not sure what grounds Trump has for suing the BBC. It’s hardly defamatory or libellous if it depicts true events. The editing is dishonest, the claims are true. What am I missing?
Reposted by Grumpy Philosopher
The fact that the BBC has made serious culpable errors does not negate the point that there is a real and concerted right-wing media campaign to destroy it. Both points can be true at the same time and the campaign would not end even if the errors did.
November 10, 2025 at 1:08 PM
The fact that the BBC has made serious culpable errors does not negate the point that there is a real and concerted right-wing media campaign to destroy it. Both points can be true at the same time and the campaign would not end even if the errors did.
Reposted by Grumpy Philosopher
Today in @aeon.co Andreas Mogensen and I discuss animal welfare, AI welfare, and probabilistic ethics. We make the case for addressing the moral status of animals and AI systems as we address health, climate, and other big issues: with probabilistic reasoning and proportional responses.
An ant is drowning: here’s how to decide if you should save it | Aeon Essays
Should we simply assume that all animals can feel pain and are of moral concern? Or is that taking things too far?
aeon.co
November 10, 2025 at 1:03 PM
Today in @aeon.co Andreas Mogensen and I discuss animal welfare, AI welfare, and probabilistic ethics. We make the case for addressing the moral status of animals and AI systems as we address health, climate, and other big issues: with probabilistic reasoning and proportional responses.
Reposted by Grumpy Philosopher
UK universities cannot thrive while continually cutting academic staff
No amount of wellness webinars, Lego play workshops, communal climbing events, bounce back sessions, desk yoga, jigsaw puzzle nights or Vice Chancellor's Special Awards for Resilience can change this
No amount of wellness webinars, Lego play workshops, communal climbing events, bounce back sessions, desk yoga, jigsaw puzzle nights or Vice Chancellor's Special Awards for Resilience can change this
November 10, 2025 at 8:30 AM
UK universities cannot thrive while continually cutting academic staff
No amount of wellness webinars, Lego play workshops, communal climbing events, bounce back sessions, desk yoga, jigsaw puzzle nights or Vice Chancellor's Special Awards for Resilience can change this
No amount of wellness webinars, Lego play workshops, communal climbing events, bounce back sessions, desk yoga, jigsaw puzzle nights or Vice Chancellor's Special Awards for Resilience can change this
Reposted by Grumpy Philosopher
Hoping this helps our colleagues across the industry
November 5, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Hoping this helps our colleagues across the industry
Reposted by Grumpy Philosopher
Just occurred that the BBC is the most literal example of Conquest's third law in that it is actually run by a cabal of its enemies.
November 10, 2025 at 8:25 AM
Just occurred that the BBC is the most literal example of Conquest's third law in that it is actually run by a cabal of its enemies.
Reposted by Grumpy Philosopher
Notable that the supposedly “patriotic” wing of British politics wants to destroy / defund almost all of our national institutions
November 10, 2025 at 8:19 AM
Notable that the supposedly “patriotic” wing of British politics wants to destroy / defund almost all of our national institutions
The tech billionaires want: AI to manage their relationships, robot slaves to serve their every whim, & their minds uploaded into cyborg bodies. Their pet projects are eugenics & leaving the earth. They are terrified of being human. The same people think they should be the leaders of humanity
November 10, 2025 at 8:27 AM
The tech billionaires want: AI to manage their relationships, robot slaves to serve their every whim, & their minds uploaded into cyborg bodies. Their pet projects are eugenics & leaving the earth. They are terrified of being human. The same people think they should be the leaders of humanity
Reposted by Grumpy Philosopher
Transhumanist billionaires fund neurotech research. Yet neurotech research is being held back by the impossible demands of transhumanism. It's like an O. Henry short story...
#NihilismAndTechnology
#NihilismAndTechnology
Investors’ ‘dumb transhumanist ideas’ setting back neurotech progress, say experts
Investors’ ‘dumb transhumanist ideas’ setting back neurotech progress, say experts
Fascination of investors such as Elon Musk with uploading their brains to computers is hindering progress in curing disease, say scientists
www.theguardian.com
November 10, 2025 at 7:38 AM
Transhumanist billionaires fund neurotech research. Yet neurotech research is being held back by the impossible demands of transhumanism. It's like an O. Henry short story...
#NihilismAndTechnology
#NihilismAndTechnology
Reposted by Grumpy Philosopher
If you want to sustain your carefully-cultivated fury at the stupid Panorama edit then don’t, whatever you do, read or listen to Trump’s speech in its entirety…
November 10, 2025 at 7:47 AM
If you want to sustain your carefully-cultivated fury at the stupid Panorama edit then don’t, whatever you do, read or listen to Trump’s speech in its entirety…
Chuck Schumer has been a politician for as long as I have been alive. Miraculously, he doesn‘t appear to have learned a single thing that’s useful for protecting democracy in all of that time.
November 9, 2025 at 9:57 PM
Chuck Schumer has been a politician for as long as I have been alive. Miraculously, he doesn‘t appear to have learned a single thing that’s useful for protecting democracy in all of that time.
Reposted by Grumpy Philosopher
Someone at a Russell Group university was moved to almost-poetry by their Faculty Meeting… Can anyone do better?
November 7, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Someone at a Russell Group university was moved to almost-poetry by their Faculty Meeting… Can anyone do better?
Reposted by Grumpy Philosopher
Be clear, the American far right are coming for British democracy.
November 9, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Be clear, the American far right are coming for British democracy.
I think we all share the worry that Labour, faced with a great chance to make something better will almost certainly do the opposite.
They’ll probably make Glasman the new DG
November 9, 2025 at 6:42 PM
I think we all share the worry that Labour, faced with a great chance to make something better will almost certainly do the opposite.
“Do you have a reason for objecting to this development?“
“No, but I‘m sure this NIMBY.ai app will come up with one for me.“
There really is nothing the LLM crowd will not make worse for the sake of getting a bit richer. Every AI company run by the most antisocial grifters alive.
“No, but I‘m sure this NIMBY.ai app will come up with one for me.“
There really is nothing the LLM crowd will not make worse for the sake of getting a bit richer. Every AI company run by the most antisocial grifters alive.
‘A new service called Objector is offering “policy-backed objections in minutes” to people who are upset about planning applications near their homes.’
Another reminder that AI can be used for things you don’t like as well as things you like…
Another reminder that AI can be used for things you don’t like as well as things you like…
Bloody hell www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
November 9, 2025 at 5:31 PM
“Do you have a reason for objecting to this development?“
“No, but I‘m sure this NIMBY.ai app will come up with one for me.“
There really is nothing the LLM crowd will not make worse for the sake of getting a bit richer. Every AI company run by the most antisocial grifters alive.
“No, but I‘m sure this NIMBY.ai app will come up with one for me.“
There really is nothing the LLM crowd will not make worse for the sake of getting a bit richer. Every AI company run by the most antisocial grifters alive.
Reposted by Grumpy Philosopher
I honestly don’t get the value of this company. They hoover up energy and water. Their product constantly gets things wrong and, in extreme cases, coaches people into suicide.
And it’s all built on what seems to be malicious and vast intellectual property theft.
What does OpenAI offer the world?
And it’s all built on what seems to be malicious and vast intellectual property theft.
What does OpenAI offer the world?
“authors & publishers who filed a lawsuit against the Sam Altman-led firm have secured access to internal Slack messages… discussing the mass deletion of a pirated books dataset… A NY district court ordered OpenAI to hand over the communications regarding data deletion”
futurism.com/artificial-i...
futurism.com/artificial-i...
OpenAI in Danger After Authors Suing It Gain Access to Its Internal Slack Messages
Authors and publishers, who are suing OpenAI, secured access to internal Slack messages and emails discussing the deletion of pirated books.
futurism.com
November 9, 2025 at 7:35 AM
I honestly don’t get the value of this company. They hoover up energy and water. Their product constantly gets things wrong and, in extreme cases, coaches people into suicide.
And it’s all built on what seems to be malicious and vast intellectual property theft.
What does OpenAI offer the world?
And it’s all built on what seems to be malicious and vast intellectual property theft.
What does OpenAI offer the world?
Reposted by Grumpy Philosopher
What, if anything, can give meaning to a human life? Could a meaningful life look like a good story?
Ahead of today's broadcast of "Narrative & the Meaning of Life" with Helena de Bres from @wellesley.edu, check out the latest blog at Philosophers Corner: philosophytalk.org/blog/got-a-s... #PhilSky
Ahead of today's broadcast of "Narrative & the Meaning of Life" with Helena de Bres from @wellesley.edu, check out the latest blog at Philosophers Corner: philosophytalk.org/blog/got-a-s... #PhilSky
What's Your (Life) Story? - Philosophy Talk
What, if anything, can give meaning to a human life? Is meaning out there to...
philosophytalk.org
November 9, 2025 at 3:31 PM
What, if anything, can give meaning to a human life? Could a meaningful life look like a good story?
Ahead of today's broadcast of "Narrative & the Meaning of Life" with Helena de Bres from @wellesley.edu, check out the latest blog at Philosophers Corner: philosophytalk.org/blog/got-a-s... #PhilSky
Ahead of today's broadcast of "Narrative & the Meaning of Life" with Helena de Bres from @wellesley.edu, check out the latest blog at Philosophers Corner: philosophytalk.org/blog/got-a-s... #PhilSky
The populist right doesn‘t rank absolute improvements in their own lives as highly as they do improvements relative to their enemies. Indeed, they will gladly take absolute losses if their enemies take bigger ones. The biggest constituency of their enemies is their fellow citizens.
November 9, 2025 at 3:17 PM
The populist right doesn‘t rank absolute improvements in their own lives as highly as they do improvements relative to their enemies. Indeed, they will gladly take absolute losses if their enemies take bigger ones. The biggest constituency of their enemies is their fellow citizens.
Yesterday, my hate crime was to make an enemy of Canada by trash-talking Tim Hortons, today it‘s to alienate of Denmark by bad-mouthing Kierkegaard. Not sure how to escalate next.
November 9, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Yesterday, my hate crime was to make an enemy of Canada by trash-talking Tim Hortons, today it‘s to alienate of Denmark by bad-mouthing Kierkegaard. Not sure how to escalate next.
So far, this Kierkegaard chap turns out to be less interesting than I‘d hoped for. For me, the big question in the story of Abraham & Isaac is how Isaac & Sarah live with Abraham after Moriah. I don‘t see any hint of tackling that here.
November 9, 2025 at 2:27 PM
So far, this Kierkegaard chap turns out to be less interesting than I‘d hoped for. For me, the big question in the story of Abraham & Isaac is how Isaac & Sarah live with Abraham after Moriah. I don‘t see any hint of tackling that here.
Reposted by Grumpy Philosopher
Would UK HE be better able to defend itself against charges of irrelevance if its senior management hadn't spent the last decade pushing the narrative that a university is nothing more than an overpriced skills training facility with some modest probability of an income premium?
November 9, 2025 at 10:41 AM
Would UK HE be better able to defend itself against charges of irrelevance if its senior management hadn't spent the last decade pushing the narrative that a university is nothing more than an overpriced skills training facility with some modest probability of an income premium?
I‘m actively trying not to do any work on the weekend, which requires finding things to distract myself. So, I‘m going to read a famous philosopher I‘ve shamefully never read before.
November 9, 2025 at 10:33 AM
I‘m actively trying not to do any work on the weekend, which requires finding things to distract myself. So, I‘m going to read a famous philosopher I‘ve shamefully never read before.
Reposted by Grumpy Philosopher
It feels like most of the 'LEST WE FORGET' folk have, in fact, forgotten
November 9, 2025 at 10:11 AM
It feels like most of the 'LEST WE FORGET' folk have, in fact, forgotten