Use this page to scan recent stories from Danielharper, see the themes that keep appearing, and jump into complete story briefs.
This year, I seem to spend a great deal too much of my time reading. I just picked up Anscombe on Wittgenstein: Reminiscences of a Philosophical Friendship, ed. John Berkman and Roger Teichmann (Oxford Univ. Press, 2025). The third section of this book consists of 237 brief reminiscences or philosophical anecdotes that
In 2015, philosopher Mary Midgley (1919-2018) gave a talk on “Science, Scientism, and the Self” at the Ian Ramsey Centre at Oxford University. At the beginning of her talk, she discusses a new creedal formulation which now dominates Western culture: “I want to point out that physical science, for many years now, succee
The summer issue of Frieze magazine had an article on Printed Matter, the bookstore in New York City that sells artists’ books. Artists’ books started out as a way to democratize art; make an artwork that could be printed as cheaply as a trace paperback, and you could put art into the hands of anyone … Continue reading
An excerpt from Jascha Bareis, Clemens Ackerl & Reinhard Heil, “AI going rogue? An integrative narrative review of the tacit assumptions underlying existential AI-risks” AI Ethics 6, 152 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43681-025-00928-w: “Amidst the influence of the X-risk discourse on politics and regulation, public
A few years ago, I wrote a brief biography of John Merton Aldrich, a renowned entomologist who was a Unitarian. Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve expanded and revised that biography. Rather than post yet another Aldrich bio, I updated the old one and you can read it here. I also added a new … Continue reading "Update
We were out for a walk in downtown Cohasset. Carol was the first one to hear the owl. “What’s that?” she said. “Eva says that’s a young owl.” It did sound owl-like. When I used the Merlin app on my phone, it identified it as an Eastern Screech Owl. Of course — it had that … Continue reading "Owl"
You are caught up for now.
Open the app view when you want faster scanning, saved stories, and source-focused reading in one place.