Philosophy of Mind

Rebecca Goldstein's 'Mattering Instinct': the one need that drives and divides us

Goldstein's new book follows a single drive: the need to matter. On her account that need lies behind humanity's greatest achievements and behind its most stubborn afflictions — loneliness, polarisation and extremism alike.

Rebecca Goldstein

This Day in Philosophy — 26 August: the death of William James

William James, the founding figure of American philosophy, died at his New Hampshire home on 26 August 1910. The same date in 1728 saw the birth of Johann Heinrich Lambert, the first man to prove that pi is irrational.

Should philosophers use AI? A blunt objection and the replies it drew

Dan Kaufman set out four objections to his colleagues' enthusiasm for artificial intelligence: philosophy does not accumulate truths, its subject matter is human, it is closer to literature, and it is a social practice. His post at Leiter Reports drew more than ten replies in a day.

The argument over the moral status of AI moves into the philosophy journals

A paper in Philosophical Studies asks whether an artificial superintelligence might hold a moral status higher than our own. The division beneath the field is coming into focus: does consciousness depend on biological structure, or on function?

After John Searle: what does the Chinese Room say today?

John Searle, one of the most argued-over figures in the philosophy of language and mind, died on 17 September 2025 at the age of 93. The thought experiment at the centre of the AI debate is still his.

New paper from Chalmers: who are we talking to when we talk to language models?

The philosopher who named the 'hard problem' of consciousness asks whether what we converse with is the model or a character the model is enacting. He does not close the door on machine consciousness.

David Chalmers

This Day in Philosophy — 12 August: IBM unveils the personal computer

The IBM PC went on sale on 12 August 1981. The passage of computing power from institutions to individuals also altered arguments running from the philosophy of mind to the theory of knowledge.