Brian Leiter's Avatar

Brian Leiter

@brianleiter.bsky.social

I teach and write about general jurisprudence, legal and political realism, metaethics, free speech, religious toleration, academic freedom, Nietzsche, Marx and other topics at the University of Chicago. Homepage: https://brianleiter.net/

1,942 Followers  |  62 Following  |  657 Posts  |  Joined: 10.10.2023  |  1.5055

Latest posts by brianleiter.bsky.social on Bluesky

Preview
Muhammad Ali Khalidi and Liam Murphy (hereafter K&M) on โ€œDisagreement about the kind lawโ€ This paper by K&M appeared in Jurisprudence 12 (2021): 1-16. The main contribution of the paper is in section 4, which argues, quite plausibly, for the view that law is dependent on (at least sโ€ฆ

leiterreports.com/2026/01/31/m...

01.02.2026 16:02 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Preview
Do LLMs already have human-level intelligence? Philosophers Eddy Chen and David Danks and two colleagues (in machine learning theory and linguistics) give an affirmative answer. Professor Chen kindly shared a โ€œview-onlyโ€ link for thโ€ฆ

leiterreports.com/2026/02/03/d...

03.02.2026 22:57 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
Preview
Most cited Anglophone books in philosophy of mind since WWII (according to Google Scholar) Looking at books misses very highly cited and important articles by philosophers like Ned Block, Tyler Burge and Hilary Putnam, of course. At the same time, there are a large number of very influenโ€ฆ

leiterreports.com/2026/02/02/m...

02.02.2026 15:11 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 2    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Preview
Most cited Anglophone books in philosophy of mind since WWII (according to Google Scholar) Looking at books misses very highly cited and important articles by philosophers like Ned Block, Tyler Burge and Hilary Putnam, of course. At the same time, there are a large number of very influenโ€ฆ

leiterreports.com/2026/02/02/m...

02.02.2026 15:11 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 2    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Preview
Muhammad Ali Khalidi and Liam Murphy (hereafter K&M) on โ€œDisagreement about the kind lawโ€ This paper by K&M appeared in Jurisprudence 12 (2021): 1-16. The main contribution of the paper is in section 4, which argues, quite plausibly, for the view that law is dependent on (at least sโ€ฆ

leiterreports.com/2026/01/31/m...

01.02.2026 16:02 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
DHS: Want affordable housing? Help report illegal aliens in your area. Call 866-DHS-2-ICE.

If you are an illegal alien, you can take control of your departure using DHS.GOV/CBPHOME.

DHS: Want affordable housing? Help report illegal aliens in your area. Call 866-DHS-2-ICE. If you are an illegal alien, you can take control of your departure using DHS.GOV/CBPHOME.

straight up Gestapo shit

31.01.2026 20:54 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 32554    ๐Ÿ” 10224    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1964    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1297
Post image

Good idea!

31.01.2026 21:07 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 7    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Preview
Garcia from Free University to Frankfurt Manon Garcia (feminist philosophy, Continental philosophy), currently a tenure-track professor at the Free University of Berlin, has acccepted a tenured appointment as professor of philosophy (a W3โ€ฆ

leiterreports.com/2026/01/29/g...

30.01.2026 00:58 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

itโ€™s about to get weird

28.01.2026 04:09 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1909    ๐Ÿ” 452    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 51    ๐Ÿ“Œ 9
Preview
Williamson vs. Thomasson Philosopher Amie Thomasson is a leading figure in โ€œdeflationaryโ€ and neo-pragmatist approaches to metaphysics and ontology, along with other philosophers like Huw Price, Jenann Ismael, โ€ฆ

leiterreports.com/2026/01/28/w...

28.01.2026 16:43 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 2    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Preview
Williamson vs. Thomasson Philosopher Amie Thomasson is a leading figure in โ€œdeflationaryโ€ and neo-pragmatist approaches to metaphysics and ontology, along with other philosophers like Huw Price, Jenann Ismael, โ€ฆ

leiterreports.com/2026/01/28/w...

28.01.2026 16:43 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 2    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Preview
Most cited post-WWII books on ancient Greek and Roman philosophy written by philosophers (according to Google Scholar again) (CORRECTED) Books are not, in fact, the most important vehicle for scholarship in this area, as the absence of scholars like Myles Burnyeat, Alan Code, G.E.L. Owen, and Gisela Striker, among others, would suggโ€ฆ

leiterreports.com/2026/01/27/m...

27.01.2026 13:43 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 2    ๐Ÿ” 3    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Preview
Most cited post-WWII books on ancient Greek and Roman philosophy written by philosophers (according to Google Scholar again) (CORRECTED) Books are not, in fact, the most important vehicle for scholarship in this area, as the absence of scholars like Myles Burnyeat, Alan Code, G.E.L. Owen, and Gisela Striker, among others, would suggโ€ฆ

leiterreports.com/2026/01/27/m...

27.01.2026 13:43 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 2    ๐Ÿ” 3    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Preview
โ€œPhilosophy Talkโ€ archives are now open access, all 600 episodes Here. I participated in three episodes over the years, including on Nietzsche and on religious liberty. It was great fun each time. John Perry and Ken Taylor were congenial and smart hosts. Feel frโ€ฆ

leiterreports.com/2026/01/26/p...

26.01.2026 15:16 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 2    ๐Ÿ” 2    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Preview
โ€œPhilosophy Talkโ€ archives are now open access, all 600 episodes Here. I participated in three episodes over the years, including on Nietzsche and on religious liberty. It was great fun each time. John Perry and Ken Taylor were congenial and smart hosts. Feel frโ€ฆ

leiterreports.com/2026/01/26/p...

26.01.2026 15:16 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 2    ๐Ÿ” 2    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Preview
Most cited books in Anglophone philosophy of language since WWII (according to Google Scholar) I made some judgment calls, like treating Wittgensteinโ€™s classic work as part of โ€œAnglophoneโ€ philosophy of language; treating books that straddle philosophy of language and mind โ€ฆ

leiterreports.com/2026/01/19/m...

21.01.2026 18:39 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 2    ๐Ÿ” 2    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Preview
Abolish ICE Consider the reign of terror in Minnesota in the last few weeks: Since early January, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement expanded its operation in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn., federal offโ€ฆ

leiterreports.com/2026/01/25/a...

25.01.2026 16:19 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 2    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Everythingโ€™s so upside down that I half-expect the GOP to defend killing a protester for being unvaccinated.

26.01.2026 14:26 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 121    ๐Ÿ” 13    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 6    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1

The deadly shooting in Minneapolis today was a straight-up execution of a protester by Trump's federal brownshirts.

The thugs wrestled him to the ground. They pistol-whipped him, then shot him multiple times. They murdered him.

24.01.2026 19:40 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 10019    ๐Ÿ” 3218    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 449    ๐Ÿ“Œ 146
Post image 24.01.2026 22:01 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 9160    ๐Ÿ” 2805    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 284    ๐Ÿ“Œ 108

Bondi's letterโ€”essentially offering to stop attacking and murdering citizens in Minnesota in exchange for the state's voter rollsโ€”shows what Trump, Miller et al. are really after:

They want to fuck with the nation's elections so that they never have to cede power or answer for their crimes.

25.01.2026 14:57 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 5234    ๐Ÿ” 2161    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 353    ๐Ÿ“Œ 125
Preview
2026 Schock Prize in โ€œLogic and Philosophyโ€ goes to Bas van Fraassen. Announcement here. Certainly an appropriate choice! Past winners include Quine, Putnam, Kripke, Rawls, Thomas Nagel, David Kaplan, Michael Dummett, and others. For those who may have missed it, herโ€ฆ

leiterreports.com/2026/01/21/2...

21.01.2026 18:39 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Preview
In Memoriam: Barbara Aronstein Black (1933-2026) A longtime member of the Columbia Law faculty, where she was emerita, Professor Black was an expert in legal history and the first woman to serve as Dean of Columbia Law School. Comments are open fโ€ฆ

leiterreports.com/2026/01/21/i...

21.01.2026 21:27 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Preview
Most cited books in Anglophone epistemology since WWII (according to Google Scholar) (CORRECTED) I list all books with at least 1,900 citations (which got the original list to twenty). In the case of Sellarsโ€™s classic โ€œEmpiricism and the Philosophy of Mind,โ€ the book version,โ€ฆ

leiterreports.com/2026/01/22/m...

22.01.2026 16:30 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 2    ๐Ÿ” 2    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Preview
Abolish ICE Consider the reign of terror in Minnesota in the last few weeks: Since early January, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement expanded its operation in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn., federal offโ€ฆ

leiterreports.com/2026/01/25/a...

25.01.2026 16:19 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 2    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Post image

Bernice King has it absolutely right. We are facing a moral crisis in this country. And we must all act together to end it.

25.01.2026 06:45 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 11587    ๐Ÿ” 4142    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 295    ๐Ÿ“Œ 161
Preview
Anyone asserting that the killing of Renee Good by an ICE officer was โ€œlegally justifiedโ€โ€ฆ โ€ฆliterally doesnโ€™t know what theyโ€™re talking about. That includes the guy with an M.A. in philosophy, who self-describes as a โ€œlaw enforcement officer,โ€ whose substackโ€ฆ

leiterreports.com/2026/01/24/a...

24.01.2026 16:49 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 2    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1

I was just looking at it, I am guessing this is why a couple of folks sent me Hsiao's piece.

24.01.2026 18:02 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Preview
Anyone asserting that the killing of Renee Good by an ICE officer was โ€œlegally justifiedโ€โ€ฆ โ€ฆliterally doesnโ€™t know what theyโ€™re talking about. That includes the guy with an M.A. in philosophy, who self-describes as a โ€œlaw enforcement officer,โ€ whose substackโ€ฆ

leiterreports.com/2026/01/24/a...

24.01.2026 16:49 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 2    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
Preview
Most cited books in Anglophone epistemology since WWII (according to Google Scholar) (CORRECTED) I list all books with at least 1,900 citations (which got the original list to twenty). In the case of Sellarsโ€™s classic โ€œEmpiricism and the Philosophy of Mind,โ€ the book version,โ€ฆ

leiterreports.com/2026/01/22/m...

22.01.2026 16:30 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 2    ๐Ÿ” 2    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

@brianleiter is following 19 prominent accounts