Reading Lists
We publish reading lists from our programs in philosophy x AI, as well as periodic recommendations from top thinkers in the Cosmos network.
From our network:
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From our seminars:
secondarynone400For additional commentary and analysis see the full post on Substack. Reading List: AI and the Future of Education.
I. The Promise and Crisis of the University
Benjamin Franklin, Proposals Relating to the Education of Youth in Pennsilvania. (link)
Wilhelm von Humboldt, “On the Internal and External Organization of the Higher Academic Institutions in Berlin.” (link)
Michael Oakeshott, The Voice of Liberal Learning, Introduction.
Allan Bloom, “Our Listless Universities.” (link)
Bryan Caplan, The Case Against Education, Chapter 1, “The Magic of Education.”
II. What Formation Requires
Simone Weil, Waiting for God, “Reflections on the Right Use of School Studies with a View to the Love of God.”
Jacob Klein, “The Idea of Liberal Education” in The Goals of Higher Education, ed. W.D. Weatherford, Jr.
Hans-Georg Gadamer, “The Socratic Question and Aristotle”, Continental Philosophy Review.
Andy Clark and David Chalmers, “The Extended Mind”, Analysis. (link)
Murray Shanahan, “Talking about Large Language Models”, Communications of the ACM. (link)
III. The Institutional Question
Thomas Jefferson, “Draft of the Rockfish Gap Report of the University of Virginia.” (link)
John Henry Newman, The Idea of a University, Discourse 5, “Knowledge its Own End.” (link)
Henrik Karlsson, “AI tutors will be held back by culture.” (link)
IV. Education and the Machine
JCR Licklider, “Man-Computer Symbiosis,” IRE Transactions on Human Factors in Electronics.
Seymour Papert, Mindstorms: Children, Computers, and Powerful Ideas, Ch. 1.
Andy Matuschak and Michael Nielsen, “How can we develop transformative tools for thought?” (link)
V. Building the New Academy
Alexander Flexner, “The Usefulness of Useless Knowledge,” Harper’s Magazine. (link)
Allan Bloom, “Hutchins’s Idea of a University,” Times Literary Supplement.
Gilbert Simondon, On the Mode of Existence of Technical Objects, “Introduction.”
Douglas C. Engelbart, “Augmenting Human Intellect: A Conceptual Framework,” SRI Summary Report AFOSR-3223.
For additional commentary and analysis see the full post on Substack. Reading List: AI and the Future of Human Autonomy.
I. Foundations of Autonomy
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Book I, 1-7, 13; and Book II, 1-6 (link)
Humboldt, The Limits of State Action, Ch. 2, “Of the Individual Man and the Highest Ends of his Existence” (link)
Mill, On Liberty, Ch. 3, “Of Individuality, as One of the Elements of Well-Being” (link)
Kant, “An Answer to the Question: What is Enlightenment?" Pgs 1-7 (link)
II. Modern and Psychological Accounts of Autonomy
Sedgwick, Kant’s Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals: An Introduction, “Kant's Preface” and Ch. 4, Sect. II
Sartre, Existentialism Is a Humanism, Introduction (by Annie Cohen-Solal)
Hayek, The Constitution of Liberty, Ch. 2, “The Creative Powers of a Free Civilization”
Deci and Ryan, Intrinsic Motivation and Self-Determination in Human Behavior, Ch. 1, “An Introduction” and Ch. 11, “Work” (link)
III. External Threats to Autonomy
Tocqueville, Democracy in America, Ch. 2.4.6 (link)
Hayek, "The Use of Knowledge in Society" (link)
Goffman, “Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates,” Introduction and Sections I & II of Ch 1, “The Inmate World“
Thaler & Sunstein, "Libertarian Paternalism Is Not an Oxymoron", Abstract and Introduction (pgs 1-8) (link)
IV. Internal Threats to Autonomy
Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil, Ch. 1, aphorisms 1-19 (link)
Freud, Civilization and Its Discontents, Ch. 7
Rieff, The Triumph of the Therapeutic: Uses of Faith after Freud, “Introductory: Toward a Theory of Culture”
Lasch, The Culture of Narcissism: American Life in An Age of Diminishing Expectations, Ch. 1
V. Designing Systems for Autonomy
Sarkar, “AI Should Challenge, Not Obey” (link)
Koralus, “The Philosophic Turn for AI Agents: Replacing Centralized Digital Rhetoric with Decentralized Truth-Seeking” (link)
Habermas, The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere: An Inquiry into a Category of Bourgeois Society, Ch. 5 “Institutions of the Public Sphere” (link)
Tessler, et. al. “Al can help humans find common ground in democratic deliberation.” (link)
Stray, et. al. “What are you optimizing for? Aligning Recommender Systems with Human Values.” (link)
For additional commentary and analysis see the full post on Substack. Reading list: AI and the Republic of Science.
I. Foundations, Evolution, and Revolution in Scientific Method
Aristotle, Posterior Analytics, Book II, Parts I, II, and XIX. (Link)
Bacon, Novum Organum, Book I, Aphorisms I-LXX. (Link)
Popper, Conjectures and Refutations, Chapter 1.
Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Chapter IX. (Link)
II. Science and Society
Bacon, New Atlantis. (Link)
Polanyi, The Republic of Science. (Link)
Weber, Science as a Vocation. (Link)
Merton, The Normative Structure of Science.
III. Institutions of Science
IV. Progress and Metascience
Collison and Cowen, We Need a New Science of Progress. (Link)
Bloom et al, Are Ideas Getting Harder to Find? (Link)
Jones, The Burden of Knowledge and the “Death of the Renaissance Man.” (Link)
Merton, The Matthew Effect in Science. (Link)
Ioannidis, Why Most Published Research Findings Are False. (Link)
Fortunato, Science of Science. (Link)
V. AI and Science
Session 1: The consequences of a world with self-guided machines
Aristotle, Politics Bk. 1 and Bk. 2.8
Every subordinate, moreover, is an instrument that wields many instruments, for if each of the instruments were able to perform its function on command or by anticipation, as they assert those of Daedalus did, or the tripods of Hephaestus (which the poet says “of their own accord came to the gods’ gathering”), so that shuttles would weave themselves and picks play the lyre, master craftsmen would no longer have a need for subordinates…
Session 2: The rule of the philosopher-scientist
Leo Strauss, “Liberal Education and Responsibility”; “What is Political Philosophy?” (pp. 36-40)
Philosophy or science was no longer an end in itself, but in the service of human power, of a power to be used for making human life longer, healthier, and more abundant. The economy of scarcity, which is the tacit presupposition of all earlier social thought, was to be replaced by an economy of plenty. The radical distinction between science and manual labor was to be replaced by the smooth co-operation of the scientist and the engineer. According to the original conception, the men in control of this stupendous enterprise were the philosopher-scientists. Everything was to be done by them for the people, but, as it were, nothing by the people. For the people were, to begin with, rather distrustful of the new gifts from the new sort of sorcerers, for they remembered the commandment, "Thou shalt not suffer a sorcerer to live." In order to become the willing recipients of the new gifts, the people had to be enlightened. This enlightenment is the core of the new education.
Session 3: The turn from utopias to the effectual truth
Machiavelli, The Prince, chs. 14-16, 25
But since my intent is to write something useful to whoever understands it, it has appeared to me more fitting to go directly to the effectual truth of the thing than to the imagination of it.
Session 4: Reforming the morality of men to prepare the conquering of fortune
Machiavelli, Discourses on Livy, 1.6, 2.preface, 2.1, 2.2, 2.29, 2.30
Thinking then whence it can arise that in those ancient times peoples were more lovers of freedom than in these, I believe it arises from the same cause that makes men less strong now, which I believe is the difference between our education and the ancient, founded on the difference between our religion and the ancient. For our religion, having shown the truth and the true way, makes us esteem less the honor of the world, whereas the Gentiles, esteeming it very much and having placed the highest good in it, were more ferocious in their actions.
Session 5: Human ingenuity as the production of imitations
Bacon, New Atlantis
We imitate also motions of living creatures, by images of men, beasts, birds, fishes, and serpents. We have also a great number of other various motions, strange for equality, fineness, and subtilty.
Session 6: The new science as the mastery of nature
Bacon, Great Instauration
For the end which this science of mine proposes is the invention not of arguments but of arts; not of things in accordance with principles, but of principles themselves; not of probable reasons, but of designations and directions for works. And as the intention is different, so accordingly is the effect; the effect of the one being to overcome an opponent in argument, of the other to command nature in action.
Session 7: The liberation of man as his degradation
Tocqueville, Democracy in America, Introduction, 2.1.1, 2.1.2, 2.1.10; 2.2.1, 2.2.2, 2.2.5, 2.2.10, 2.2.20; 2.4.6, 2.4.7, 2.4.8
Above these an immense tutelary power is elevated, which alone takes charge of assuring their enjoyments and watching over their fate. It is absolute, detailed, regular, far-seeing, and mild. It would resemble paternal power if, like that, it had for its object to prepare men for manhood; but on the contrary, it seeks only to keep them fixed irrevocably in childhood; it likes citizens to enjoy themselves provided that they think only of enjoying themselves. It willingly works for their happiness; but it wants to be the unique agent and sole arbiter of that; it provides for their security, foresees and secures their needs, facilitates their pleasures, conducts their principal affairs, directs their industry, regulates their estates, divides their inheritances; can it not take away from them entirely the trouble of thinking and the pain of living?
Session 8: Nature’s conquest of man
C.S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man
Man’s conquest of Nature turns out, in the moment of its consummation, to be Nature’s conquest of Man. Every victory we seemed to win has led us, step by step, to this conclusion. All Nature’s apparent reverses have been but tactical withdrawals. We thought we were beating her back when she was luring us on. What looked to us like hands held up in surrender was really the opening of arms to enfold us for ever.
Session 9: Essence of technology as defining our “lifeworld”
Heidegger, The Question Concerning Technology
Likewise, the essence of technology is by no means anything technological. Thus we shall never experience our relationship to the essence of technology so long as we merely conceive and push forward the technological, put up with it, or evade it. Everywhere we remain unfree and chained to technology, whether we passionately affirm or deny it. But we are delivered over to it in the worst possible way when we regard it as something neutral; for this conception of it, to which today we particularly like to do homage, makes us utterly blind to the essence of technology.
