Robin McKenna

@rbnmckenna.bsky.social

129

Followers

230

Following

Posts

Scottish philosopher, early morning runner and type 1 diabetic.
https://robinmckenna.weebly.com/

Posts Replies Media

Reposted by

Robin McKenna

Academic conference-attendees everywhere find themselves involuntarily wincing in sympathy.

seems that 5 days of conferencing calls for 5 days of rest after.

off to Swansea tomorrow and then Birmingham on friday for conferences, followed by camping holidays in Norfolk and Yorkshire. Who says the life of a UK academic isn't glamorous?

We’ve just had two elections where the public did a great job of using the electoral system to get the result they wanted. So much for the popular idea that people are idiots when it comes to politics.

Enjoying the irony of Lib Dems being told about the evils of fptp.

Reposted by

Robin McKenna

1. This, from a former Biden staffer, just shows that some people haven’t learned any lessons from the last eight years. It’s also an insult to the many people earnestly expressing concern about Biden’s candidacy.

going to oxford tomorrow. What should I do/see (other than attend the conference I’m meant to be going to)?

Reposted by

Robin McKenna

super excited for the day AI will be able to take over the most tedious tasks of daily life such as making art, engaging with art, maintaining human relationships, etc., so that I can focus on my true passion: creating value for shareholders

Reposted by

Robin McKenna

Tech dudes stop inventing stuff that’s just the same old stuff but worse challenge

going (back) to Vienna tomorrow.

Reposted by

Robin McKenna

a very important skill for Online is (if you are not directly affected) to be able to look at the day's discourse and go "no, absolutely the fuck not" and then not post about it

Reposted by

Robin McKenna

If you are a philosopher on Bluesky and are not following the Imperfect Cognitions blog then you are missing out! See this wonderful post by two of my favourite women in philosophy… On moral responsibility!

On the blog today, Anneli Jefferson and Katrina Sifferd discuss their recent on paper on the role of audience and feedback in the development of moral agency. #philsky http://imperfectcogn...#philsky http://imperfectcogn...

Reposted by

Robin McKenna

Although they choose different heroes, one commonality on the left and the right is the desire to make everything into "good guy" versus "bad guy." In reality, everyone is various shades of bad guy.

As I've said before, there is room at the Hague for everyone. www.cnn.com/2024/06/12/m...

UN inquiry finds Israel and Hamas have both committed war crimes since October 7 | CNNwww.cnn.com A United Nations inquiry into the first few months of the war in Gaza has found both Israel and Hamas committed war crimes and grave violations of international law, in the body’s first in-depth inves...

Reposted by

Robin McKenna

The University of York seeks to shed around 300 jobs via voluntary redundancies. #UKUnis #AcademicSky

Hundreds of jobs could be at risk as University of York looks to save £34 millionwww.yorkpress.co.uk Hundreds of jobs could be at risk at the University of York as the higher education provider looks to save £34 million – on top of the £30…

Reposted by

Robin McKenna

'You' is grammatically plural and I will be refusing to use it to refer to individual people

Reposted by

Robin McKenna

Rishi Sunak has pledged to release all of Dad's Army on blueray

Reposted by

Robin McKenna

Has anyone considered for a second that Sam Altman might be an idiot

if the batch of essays I am marking is any guide, we shouldn't be too worried about students using GAI to write *good* philosophy. Bad philosophy on the other hand...

Someone just told me that Phil Studies receives over 1500 submissions a year. How is that possible?

Reposted by

Robin McKenna

Who among us has not been to a Philosophy talk constructed in this manner

Reposted by

Robin McKenna

Reply to

Helen Kennedy

Trust Irish Reddit to have the right take on this:

Reposted by

Robin McKenna

Blogpost on perpetual overwork, survival guilt and how the implosion of tenure track jobs has made the work for those who still have such a job unsustainable. This is not just about saying no, it’s a collective labor issue philosopherscocoon.typepad.com/blog/2024/05...

Collective academic overwork and survivor guilt are a labor issuephilosopherscocoon.typepad.com In February, before I finally made time to see my primary care provider, I was working very intensely, being totally overwhelmed. I'd been in this state of overwhelm since late 2021 when we were out o...

few things annoy me more about teaching in the uk than the fact I am completely unable to give extensions, or indeed to anything to make things easier for students who need a bit of help.

Finally got round to reading the remains of the day. Turns out it’s pretty good.

really enjoyed teaching a unit on disability, but wow is it jarring to go from reading sociology and disability studies to analytic philosophy articles that start "here are three desiderata for an account of disability number 1 extensional adequacy".

in the grand scheme of things, needing to inject insulin to eat isn't that bad. but it is very, very bad when you forget your insulin, can't go home to get it, and want to eat some lunch that isn't cheese and vegetables.

Reposted by

Robin McKenna

love to hear this just once from people actively coordinating relief efforts in Addis Ababa or actively strategizing about supporting Sudanese farmers, rather than from people doing something orders of magnitude more morally vacuous than what they accuse "performative" protestors of doing

Also, who cares? If protesters are being hypocritical by caring more about one genocide over another, isn't that far less of a moral transgression than the genocide itself? If you'd like to bring attention to Sudan or the Uighurs, please do! But this feels like yet another bad-faith distraction

Taking this advice to heart and reading all fiction, no philosophy

Reading things outside your area of specialization, even if you think it has no connection to your work, can often lead to novel connections and new insights. Read broadly!

Reposted by

Robin McKenna

“What would be so wrong about a campus antisemitism monitor?” ask people still losing their mind about Title IX offices, theme houses and DEI initiatives

an underrated problem with social media is that now a lot of people are more familiar with discourse about an issue than the issue itself.