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Articles by Sasha Mudd
Reason is more than a tool
A few months ago, I sat in a packed university auditorium listening to a celebrated computer scientist explain the brilliance of large language models (LLMs). These systems optimise, he said. And they improve at optimisation on the basis of past experience. He paused. That, he said with a smile, is intelligence. The audience nodded along approvingly. Meanwhile, a philosophical alarm bell began sounding in my head. Not because the speaker’s claim was implausible.
Reason is more than a tool
Reason is more than a tool If intelligence is merely optimisation then machines will outrun us. Kant tells us why human reason is so much more Illustration by Aeon/Daniel Ceng/Anadolu/Getty Images is associate professor of philosophy at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile in Santiago and a visiting scholar at the University of California, Berkeley. She is also the philosopher-at-large for Prospect magazine, where she has a monthly column.
The sirens of the AI apocalypse
Nine days after Jacob Coxon made a spectacle of quitting Anthropic, warning that many of the people building advanced AI sincerely believe it could kill us all within the decade, the New York Times responded with an editorial that had an oddly, almost disconcertingly cheerful title: “Humanity Has Avoided Apocalypse Before.
The Odyssey’s moral maze
The Trojan War lasted 10 years. The discourse around Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey only feels that long. Classicists, critics, culture warriors, columnists and everyone with an X account has had their turn at the oar, finding in Nolan’s film a referendum on everything from adaptation and masculinity to empire and the future of western civilisation. There is a narrower, but more interesting quarrel.
A social media ban would set children free
Keir Starmer’s proposal, made shortly before he resigned, to “give kids their childhood back” by banning under-16s from certain social media platforms drew the kind of criticism that greets any democratic attempt to govern the digital world. It was too crude, too late, too easy to evade, too intrusive to enforce, too inattentive to teenagers who find community online. These concerns are real. A ban is a blunt tool.
The shock of the old
London has many ways of reminding you that you have been there before: the warm metallic fug of the Underground, the plane trees, beautiful and hostile, shedding their irritant fluff across the parks, the weather performing three seasons before lunch. After years away I found, with the usual shock of return, that the city was both completely familiar and no longer mine. That doubleness followed me all week.
Artemis II’s science of resistance
Three days after the president of the United States threatened, via social media, the destruction of an entire civilisation, Artemis II splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, its crew having travelled farther from Earth than any humans before them. It is hard to hold these two images in the mind at once. An American spacecraft returning from the limits of human reach, and the supposed leader of the free world threatening genocide as though it were just another move on the board.
Bringing Kant to a bar fight
The Trump administration has offered little justification for its war in Iran. What it has offered instead is a tone. “No stupid rules of engagement,” defence secretary Pete Hegseth crowed. “No nation-building quagmire, no democracy-building exercise.” The war, he boasted, would rain “death and destruction from the sky all day long”. If you find this chest-thumping nihilism alarming, the message seems to be: that’s your problem. We do this because we can.
La magia di leggere ai figli ad alta voce
L’altra sera mia figlia di sei anni si è catapultata fuori dal letto a metà frase, agitando le braccia come un mulino. “Così? È così che faceva?”. Stava interpretando la danza esultante di nonno Joe dopo che Charlie ha trovato il biglietto d’oro della Fabbrica di cioccolato. Un attimo prima eravamo in pigiama, immerse nel libro. Ora eravamo metà nel mondo di Roald Dahl e metà nel nostro, recitando la storia a tutto volume. Ecco cosa succede quando leggo ai miei figli. Non riescono a star fermi.
I can’t seem to finish a book
I have a problem. It embarrasses me, professionally, to admit it—but here goes: these days, I can’t seem to finish a book. That’s an exaggeration, of course. Some books I do finish. When I read to my daughters, we almost always make it to the end. Stopping out of boredom or disappointment would be freakish and rare. And if I’m reviewing a philosophical text or teaching a book to my students, I finish. Professional duty still compels.
Trump has destroyed American soft power
The capture and abduction of Nicolás Maduro was intended as a demonstration of strength. And in a narrow sense, it succeeded, confirming what few seriously doubt: that America’s military reach remains unmatched. If Washington decides to decapitate a regime, it often can. But power has more than one register. And the deeper significance of Venezuela lies not in what the United States proved it can do, but in what it revealed it no longer wishes to be.
Después de Venezuela: el colapso semántico de la democracia
La captura militar de Nicolás Maduro por parte de Estados Unidos, seguida del anuncio de que Washington asumirá el control político de Venezuela y reorganizará su industria petrolera, no es solo un acontecimiento geopolítico alarmante y una grave violación del derecho internacional. Es también algo más silencioso y, a largo plazo, más corrosivo: el colapso de un vocabulario moral y político compartido.
Después de Venezuela: el colapso semántico de la democracia
La captura militar de Nicolás Maduro por parte de Estados Unidos, seguida del anuncio de que Washington asumirá el control político de Venezuela y reorganizará su industria petrolera, no es solo un acontecimiento geopolítico alarmante y una grave violación del derecho internacional. Es también algo más silencioso y, a largo plazo, más corrosivo: el colapso de un vocabulario moral y político compartido.
The lost music of childhood
Lately, I’ve been listening more attentively to the murmur of my six-year-old as she plays—her running monologue aimed at no one in particular. The other day I eavesdropped as she conducted a board meeting of unicorns, scolded a dragon for bad manners and then proceeded to count to a hundred in a singsong, looping back to repeat the numbers that pleased her most. I’m more attentive because I’ve noticed this sweet self-talk, so characteristic of early childhood, beginning to fade.
The politics of the potty
Parents call toddlers tyrants, and for good reason. They rule by appetite and tantrum, and their subjects—us—live in permanent negotiation with irrational power. My youngest has long since graduated from diapers, but when I saw Donald Trump’s AI-generated video of himself in a fighter jet dumping excrement on peaceful American protesters, I was instantly transported back to the glory days before my children had learned the basic courtesies of self-restraint.
“No Kings” y la esperanza de una reacción a Trump
El sábado 18 de octubre, unos siete millones de estadounidenses salieron a las calles para rechazar lo que perciben como el desmantelamiento de la democracia norteamericana por parte de la administración de Trump. Las protestas bajo el lema “No Kings” —pacíficas, plurales, decididamente cívicas— se han convertido en la mayor manifestación pública en la historia de EE UU.
Charlie Kirk, memes and murder
The recently assassinated right-wing activist Charlie Kirk built his celebrity around a table, a sign—“Prove me wrong”—and a formula. On campuses across the United States, he invited students to debate him. But what was styled as debate, with its promise of intellectual openness and the possibility of persuasion, was in practice something rather different: a carefully staged theatre of domination.
Reading aloud isn’t just for children
The other night my six-year-old launched herself out of bed mid-sentence, arms flailing like a windmill. “Like this? Is this how he did it?” She was recreating Grandpa Joe’s jubilant dance after Charlie finds the golden ticket. A minute earlier, we’d been in our pyjamas, deep inside Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Now we were half in Roald Dahl’s world and half in our own, acting out the story at full volume. This is what happens when I read to my children. They can’t stay still.
American politics was violent before Trump. He has made it far worse
On 14th June, a man posing as a police officer attacked two Minnesota legislators and their spouses. He killed Melissa Hortman, a former speaker of the state House of Representatives, and her husband. State senator John Hoffman and his wife were seriously injured. Many were shocked, yet few were surprised. The United States is enduring an epidemic of gun violence unique among developed countries—with over 45,000 deaths annually—and has a history of political assassinations.
The uncomfortable truth about progressive groupthink
I recently returned home from a philosophy conference in the United States—my first since Trump & Co. began their assault on US academic institutions—and was horrified in all the ways you might expect. Colleagues spoke of federal research funding cuts, escalating attacks on academic freedom, department closures, and fears of a US brain drain. One professor had seemingly been fired for her “woke” research, underscoring the human cost of institutional capitulation to Trump’s demands.
Donald Trump vs the founding fathers
Like many US academics living abroad, I regularly travel between the United States and my adopted home country—for conferences, holidays, and family visits. Until now, I have never been the least bit afraid to set foot on US soil. The thought of fearing for my safety upon landing in Chicago, as I will next month, would have been absurd. No longer. I’ve never before imagined that I might be stopped, harassed, detained—not because I’ve done anything wrong, but because of who I am and what I write.
What Nietzsche knows about Donald Trump
As American political chaos radiates around the globe, it is tempting to label Donald Trump a nihilist—an authoritarian devoid of values, trashing all that he can in a primal bid for dominance. This may sound convincing, and yet it misreads the crisis at hand. Trump is not a nihilist in the sense of believing in nothing or cynically holding all values in contempt.
Why death is not always the greatest harm
Few debates elicit as much moral discomfort as the question of legal voluntary euthanasia. The practical objections—fear of coercion, societal pressures, the risk of mistakes—are serious. But beneath them there often lies something deeper: a belief that life has an intrinsic, absolute value and that death is always a harm. I submit neither assumption stands up very well to scrutiny. The idea that life has ultimate value, no matter what, seems plausible in the abstract.
Pursuing happiness is a waste of time
Every time the new year rolls around, I am fascinated anew by our species-wide obsession with personal happiness. As we change calendars the prophets of personal fulfilment emerge, like clockwork, to sell us their new and improved four fundamental principles or six basic steps to lasting contentment.
The dark power of political lies
Whether it’s Haitians in Springfield, Ohio eating cats and dogs, federal officials withholding storm aid from Republican hurricane victims, or a supposedly fraud-ridden American voting system, the falsehoods spewed by the Trump-Vance campaign and its surrogates have intensified as election day approaches. Faced with such mendacity, the US news media has struggled to perform its democratic function.
The new model citizen
Who are the “real” British? Those torching hotels housing asylum seekers, attacking mosques and chanting hateful slogans, or those who flooded the streets after the riots this summer to reject racism and xenophobia? Posed like that, the question is a no-brainer. Those terrorising neighbourhoods do not reflect who “we” really are. This is the message the counter-protesters poured out to deliver.
Joe Biden has shown America the meaning of democracy
Ever since Joe Biden dropped out of the US presidential race in July, pundits have continued to analyse the motives behind his choice and to speculate about its ultimate electoral consequences. Was it indeed the heroic act of self-sacrifice the president’s allies were quick to celebrate? Or more a face-saving move of political expedience?
Columna de Sasha Muud: La Corte Suprema erosiona un pilar fundamental de la democracia de EE.UU.
“El Presidente de los Estados Unidos será sujeto a juicio político, juzgado, y, tras ser condenado por traición, soborno u otros delitos graves y faltas, removido de su cargo; y posteriormente será sujeto a procesamiento y castigo en el curso ordinario de la ley. La persona del rey de Gran Bretaña [por otro lado] es sagrada e inviolable; no hay un tribunal constitucional al que él sea responsable”. Así escribió Alexander Hamilton, redactor de la Constitución de EE.UU., en 1788.
Don’t empathise with Trump supporters. Condemn them
The growing alarm that many people feel about the prospect of Donald Trump returning to the US presidency goes hand-in-hand with renewed liberal anguish over how to think and talk about the millions of Trump supporters responsible for bringing us to this dangerous point.
The philosophy of free speech is complicated-and that’s OK
Student protests against Israel’s war in Gaza—and the violent clashes they have provoked on campuses in the US—raise profoundly difficult questions: when does criticism of Israel cross into antisemitism? Does hateful antisemitic speech ever deserve protection? How should universities balance respect for free speech with their obligation to provide a safe environment for all?
June 2024
A teenager piloted a Channel dinghy. After it sank, he was charged with manslaughter
The philosophical power of anxiety
The evidence is clear and mounting: teenagers are increasingly miserable and anxious, and the grown-ups are desperate to allay this. But as we decry the factors contributing to the crisis—social media addiction, climate despair, collapsing public civility, economic insecurity—the work of great philosophers suggests the value of a different response. What if anxiety is less a problem to be solved, and more an enduring truth of the modern human predicament?
May 2024
Ken Currie: As an artist, it’s not for me to proselytise
Is it morally wrong to watch porn?
Fiona Vera-Gray’s new book, Women on Porn, joins a recent slew of volumes grappling with questions about women and sex in the wake of #MeToo and the ferocious cultural backlash it unleashed. Most of these books foreground women’s perspectives and experiences, and Vera-Gray’s is no exception. But what is notable is how her focus on the personal experiences of women who consume porn is used to try and sidestep divisive debates about its ethics. There are big questions lurking here.
Will AI rob us of our humanity?
Aggregating the views of 2,778 top AI researchers, a survey released in January puts “the chance of unaided machines outperforming humans in every possible task” at 10 per cent by 2027 and 50 per cent by 2047—if science continues unabated. This stunning forecast underscores urgent questions about how best to regulate AI-driven job automation and manage its destabilising effects.
To whom do we owe shelter?
Conflict, human rights abuses and climate change have led to a doubling of the global refugee population in the last seven years, and yet the response of many wealthy countries has become increasingly insular and myopic. Constant demands to slash international aid, along with punitive immigration policies and hateful rhetoric, mark a shift away from humanitarian values.
Is Israel waging a just war?
Amid the maelstrom of outrage and despair unleashed by the war in the Middle East, there has been tremendous global pressure to call out the greater evil and take a side. Arguments about whether the horrifying toll on Palestinian civilians is proportionate to Israel’s legitimate goal of self-defence spark outrage—many find the very question inhumane. How can the mass killing of innocents possibly be justified?
A philosophical defence of democracy
Around the world, liberal democracy is in trouble. Opinion polls paint a grim picture: political dysfunction amid overlapping crises has left younger generations sceptical of the value of democracy and doubtful it can deliver for them. Those rightly worried by this call for urgent reform. But just what is it that needs reforming? What, exactly, is democracy, and why should we value it? These are big questions.
Can philosophy help us through the generation wars?
What do we owe to future generations? This is not an academic question. Ageing western societies face tough choices over how they will afford to care for their elders. These choices come at a bad time. Confronting both the soaring cost of living and a violently destabilised natural world, the young sense that they have been given a raw deal.
Los demócratas semi-leales y el futuro de la democracia chilena
A medio siglo desde el trauma histórico del golpe de estado, Chile tiene una oportunidad dorada de reafirmar su compromiso transversal con la democracia y el estado de derecho. Ahora que el 11 de septiembre ha quedado atrás, es un buen momento para reflexionar sobre cómo nos está yendo. ¿El país se ha mostrado a la altura de las circunstancias? ¿Podemos decir que estamos aprobando el examen?
Columna de Sasha Mudd: Los demócratas semi-leales y el futuro de la democracia chilena
A medio siglo desde el trauma histórico del golpe de estado, Chile tiene una oportunidad dorada de reafirmar su compromiso transversal con la democracia y el estado de derecho. Ahora que el 11 de septiembre ha quedado atrás, es un buen momento para reflexionar sobre cómo nos está yendo. ¿El país se ha mostrado a la altura de las circunstancias? ¿Podemos decir que estamos aprobando el examen?
"¡Quiero respirar!"
¡Quiero respirar!" grita mi hija de tres años, en un estado de desesperación y pánico, mientras un equipo de enfermeras y técnicos de la UCI le aprietan el cuello, le comprimen el pecho y le insertan tubos en su garganta en un intento de aspirar sus pulmones colapsados. Mientras jadea y busca aire, se aferra con todas sus fuerzas a mi mano, como si mi amor pudiera de alguna manera salvarla. Levanto la vista hacia las enfermeras, sus ojos justo por encima de sus mascarillas quirúrgicas.
Columna de Sasha Mudd: Los problemas del rey Carlos y su coronación
Opinión Sasha Mudd Profesora Asistente Instituto de Filosofía Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.
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