The Supreme Court Should Be an Ensemble of LLMs
LLMs can process human language with formal rigor—the function of Supreme Court justices.
Justin Murphy
Writing by Justin Murphy on philosophy, social science, technology, and independent scholarship.
Latest posts
The Bari Weiss Strategy
Notes on a $150M playbook that's never been written down
In Domestic War, Beware the Rabble
Notes on an "unfortunate season" of civil conflict
Alexander Karp's Iron Cage: A Review of The Technological Republic
I wanted to love it, but Alexander Karp's new book is a mess of contradictions and a bloody revenge by the Frankfurt School against the school of American Optimism.
Plato's Playbook
Influence and Intellect in the Ancient World
Deregulation and the State Arms-Race Each Other Into Cyberspace
Reading Nick Land's Meltdown sentence by sentence.
Plato: The First Indie Scholar (Plus a NorCal Meetup in 3 Weeks)
A preview from my forthcoming book and an upcoming weekend in the woods.
The Body Count Climbs Through a Series of Globewars
Reading Nick Land's Meltdown sentence by sentence.
Ecstatic Swoons
Stendhal, Lacan, Gutenberg, Nick Land and more
Markets Manufacture Intelligence, Politics Upgrades Paranoia, and Tries to Get a Grip
Reading Nick Land's Meltdown sentence by sentence.
A Blow to the Head
On Alex Karp, Hélène Cixous, Gorgias, Sarah McNally, and More
Catastrophe and Child's Play
Notes for the week
Homo Sacer and the Invention of Reading
The final installment of our 2024 annual letter.
The Next 5 Years of Other Life (Part 3)
An annual review in 3 parts.
The Next 5 Years of Other Life (Part 2)
An annual review in 3 parts.
The Next 5 Years of Other Life (Part 1)
An annual review in 3 parts (with a shipping update on The Independent Scholar).
Nietzsche's Big Mistake: Three Ideas on Christianity
A close reading of St. John blows Nietzsche out of the water.
Manny Farber's Rhizome
An exploration of Manny Farber's aesthetic philosophy of 'Termite Art vs. White Elephant Art' and its connection to rhizomatic thinking.
On IVF and Embryo Selection
Why genetic manipulation of babies leads to market slavery and embryonic holocaust, even by secular utilitarian standards
Libidinal Economies
And how masterpieces are made.
Dostoevsky vs. Nietzsche
And the second most fateful bookstore encounter in history...
Deadline Tonight
On Nietzsche's fatal mistake
You Can Probably Just Have It
The right attitude and body language can obtain almost anything through confidence and presence.
Walls as a Service
The removal of walls decreases the fraction of relevant space under your control.
Logistically Accelerating Techno-Economic Interactivity
Reading Nick Land's Meltdown sentence by sentence.
How Renaissance Rationalization and Oceanic Navigation Locked Into Commodotization Takeoff
On the first sentence of Nick Land's Meltdown.
The Life of Spinoza as an Independent Scholar
How did a lens-grinder who published only two failed books during his lifetime become one of the most influential philosophers in history? The keys to Spinoza's success as an independent scholar.
No Doesn’t Always Mean No
Nietzsche, Marinetti, Ecuador, and my new print book coming soon
On Angelicism and Post-Academic Futures
Become imperceptible, not illegible.
Angels and Communication
How the visible world hangs together.
The Divorce Revolution: How a Social Tragedy Became a Personal Triumph
Divorce rates increased from 1960 to 1980, partially thanks to an academic trend led by divorced women. Upper-class divorce rates have stabilized, but working-class divorce rates continue to rise. Divorce harms children in most cases, contrary to earlier claims.
Video Game Syndrome
In the 21st century, it's easy to forget you are not Super Mario.
Deadline tonight
Aristotle and the Secret of Esoteric Boomerism
Seminars, Meetups, and Dinners in NYC, Philly, Austin
And online, too.
Wittgenstein's Religion
"The facts of the world are not the end of the matter." —Wittgenstein
Heraclitus, Nietzsche, John the Apostle, and a Wyoming Trip Report
On speech, truth, and the printed word
The Social Mobility Illusion
On Gregory Clark's 2014 book The Son Also Rises, one of the most remarkable economics book I've read this year.
Urbit and the Telos of the Creator Economy
A long-running historical gradient suggests that individuals will enjoy full control over the creation, distribution, and monetization of their work, eventually evading all centralized platforms and arbitrary constraints.
What to Do After the Orgy
Baudrillard famously asked, "What are you doing after the orgy?" Our answer: Take a leap of faith about the ultimate truth, then harness the chaos of modernity to bring that truth into being.
Ask for the Truth: Marshall McLuhan's Catholicism
"Wham! I became Catholic the next day."
Society Is a Corpse That Purges at the Mouth
On Mary Moody Emerson.
The Montaigne Paradox
The greatest social power is achieved by withdrawing from society.
Write to Yourself and Yourself Alone
Sibi scribere.
Looking for Spinoza by Antonio Damasio: Detailed Summary
Joy, Sorrow, and the Feeling Brain.
Time Capsules and Air Lifts
News and updates, the essays of Samuel Johnson, and more...
Bad Therapy by Abigail Shrier: Detailed Summary
Why the Kids Aren't Growing Up
I See Satan Fall Like Lightning by René Girard: Detailed Summary
A detailed summary of René Girard's account of mimetic desire, scapegoating, violence, and Christianity.
Kant, Capital, and the Prohibition of Incest by Nick Land: A Detailed Guide
The high-water mark of revolutionary Deleuzian Feminism.
After Virtue by Alasdair MacIntyre: A Detailed Guide
A critique of modern moral discourse and a proposal to revive the Aristotelian tradition of virtue ethics.
The Rising Returns to Focus
And the accelerating rate of paradigm turnover