a preston

Books on my bookshelf do not constitute endorsements.

I teach and research philosophy (mainly metaethics and philosophy of perception) at Hebrew University and try to make the world a bit better (mainly by trying to surround myself with anti-occupation activists and then feeling bad about how much better of people they are than me).

Leftist without Adjectives

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npub1m244mmje3rds4paprk42w6taz6ev3m8q2eg8y92w94q4lxycf6gqv5v0w8

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pjw_at_fediphilosophy.org@momostr.pink

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relay.damus.io

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Last Notes

2025-06-19 13:24:14 UTC

"A liberal is someone who opposes every war except the current war."

2025-06-15 19:56:39 UTC

Hi all!
My server, fediphilosophy, is sadly shutting down. So I have to migrate. Any server suggestions?
I'm a philosopher, academic, leftist, living in Israel/Palestine (but American)
I post a lot of Israel/Palestine politics from a left/not-anarchist-but-adjacent angle, but also some academic stuff and philosophy stuff - I mainly research perception, metaethics, and ethics. And almost exclusively post in English.
Any suggestions welcome, boosts as well!

2025-06-04 17:23:57 UTC

I have a question for the philosophers, ethicists, and adjacent people reading this.
Suppose you discovered that all of the people you most ethically admire in the world shared the same metaethical view.
Would you take this as a reason, even a small one, in favor of that metaethical view?
If yes, would you take this to be an *epistemic* reason?
I admit I can't sort out for myself what to think about this, and don't know of any work on it.
#philosophy #ethics #metaethics #academia

2025-05-02 17:10:58 UTC

- reply

As we sit here tonight, we mark day 58 of a complete food and aid blockade of the Gaza strip, and day 51 of a complete electricity blockade. This is the longest block on aid into Gaza in history. Starvation as a weapon of war is not precise. It disproportionately affects innocent people. Yesterday and today, the International Court of Justice began hearing arguments concerning Israel’s legal humanitarian obligations to Gaza’s civilians. This is welcome, but it is also important to say that we don’t need the nuances of international law to understand that starving a population of two million people is ethically indefensible, outrageous, and genocidal.
(And this is to say nothing of the renewed and intensive fighting in Gaza which has thus far killed more than 50,000 Palestinians and the thousands more Israelis and Palestinians who have been killed across this land since October 7, 2023.)
Last week I was reading about the contemporaneous Polish attitudes toward the destruction of the Warsaw Ghetto by the Nazis during and following the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising to mark its 82nd anniversary. While attitudes among the Gentile Poles ranged from devastated to overjoyed at the burning and destruction of the ghetto and the vast majority of its residents, a common opinion reported in the diaries and newspaper reports of the time was simply some degree of annoyance, apathy, or passing sympathy. Bluma Altmed, a Polish Jew disguised as a Gentile, recalls a woman who expressed annoyance at the disruption to her sleep that such destruction caused. Janina Bauman, the Jewish Polish journalist, noted that
“Upon hearing of children being burnt alive, people would say: ‘That’s in the ghetto’ which sounded as if it was far, far away. People said: ‘That’s in the ghetto,’ and the calm was restored. But that was on…streets, mere several dozen metres away.”
Finally, Aleksandra Sołowiejczyk-Guter (another Jew hiding outside of the ghetto walls) noted that “a number of articles devoted to the Ghetto Uprising appeared in the Polish underground press (both government and left-wing).” “Emotion and sympathy, however, were only manifested on paper” and in private conversation.
I’ve spent a lot of time in the past two years - as I’m sure many of you have - trying to understand and grapple with the continued normalization of genocidal rhetoric and fantasies of ethnic cleansing in this land. And it is easy for people like us, people who would come to an event like this, to point our fingers in shock and moral condemnation. But I hope that we also take the time, reflecting on this evening as whatever happens continues to unfold in the coming days, weeks, and months, to ask ourselves what can we do? How can we speak and act courageously against the unfathomable horror we are seeing? How can we not be like those Sołowiejczyk-Guter describes: Sympathetic in private but unable or unwilling to act and speak publicly, as two million people are starving just kilometers away from us in a man-made disaster.
Tonight we are gathered to share our grief and to mourn together the continued senseless violence. The importance of coming together in these moments in shared heartache cannot be overstated. But I also hope that all of us here tonight will wake up tomorrow and ask: What can I do to prevent more heartache in the future? How can I stop this genocide from continuing? How can I help to contribute to a just and equitable peace for all of us, from the river to the sea?
We hope you find the ceremony meaningful, and thank you very much for coming.
2/2

2025-05-02 17:10:35 UTC

This past Tuesday was the 20th Annual Israeli-Palestinian Joint Memorial Ceremony, presented by Combatants for Peace. Along with the ceremony, they hosted screenings across Israel/Palestine as well as in various cities across the world. (You can watch the ceremony recording here: https://parentscirclefriends.org/2025memorial/)
I helped to organize one of three screenings in Jerusalem, and I prepared a few words to say before we began the screening. I share them here.
1/2

2025-04-29 08:41:13 UTC

I feel like educators around my generation (I'm 41) are still trying to impress the youths with what we take to be 'cool' technology. But the younger generation now is in a moment of backlash against at least much tech that is more flash than substance.
Case in point: With my lectures, I generally prepare Prezi presentations unless I'm really strapped with time, in which case I throw together a handout. I always feel bad about it though, like I'm a bad teacher.
Yesterday a student pointed out that he much prefers the handouts, as he can take notes on them more easily than with slides (even if the slides are made available). I took a survey and it was overwhelming: Physical handouts are preferred. Oof! Well at least it saves me time in the future.
Either that or handouts are somehow easier to plug into LLMs. Who knows.

2025-03-23 15:12:17 UTC

Hi all,
tl;dr If you have questions for a (leftist but attempting to be fair-minded) local in Jerusalem about the current situation in Israel or the West Bank, please ask them below.
It's been quite a while since I've done this - and I don't know if there is any desire - but I'll have some free time in a few hours, and I'd be happy to answer any questions outsiders might have about the local vibe around Jerusalem about the current political situation and/or the siege on Gaza and the West Bank. I wanted to do this because I think the international media isn't doing a great job explaining the political situation here. (For example, the big protests going on right now aren't really centrally about the genocide in Gaza, although there are certainly anti-war contingents within the broader movement.)
I am happy to answer or pass along questions about Jerusalem (East or West), Israel, or the West Bank.
I can answer questions about the opinions of Israelis of various political stances on various issues with related to Gaza, but I no longer have any living contacts in Gaza, so for an understanding of what's going on on the ground there, you can (*and should*) look elsewhere for those very important voices.
#palestine #gaza #israel #westbank #jerusalem #activism

2025-02-23 08:51:00 UTC

"I think war crimes should be prosecuted regardless of who commits them."
That's a statement that could result in my residency revoked and deportation from Israel if a new law introduced into the Knesset passes.
And no scholar who has said such a thing would be admitted into the country either.
This is just one part of a four-part bill intended to silence dissent. The bill would also make it illegal for anyone to cooperate with any ICC or ICJ investigation against Israel for genocide or crimes against humanity.
Read more from my colleague Itamar Mann here: https://verfassungsblog.de/criminalizing-knowledge/
#activism #academicfreedom #israel #apartheid #warcrimes #ICC

2025-02-04 15:46:07 UTC

"Question Everything" is one of the most common mantras in philosophy. We see it on the top of departmental websites, in blurbs about courses, and so on. (It is probably only surpassed by "Know Thyself", which really doesn't fit a lot of subdisciplines of contemporary philosophy.)
I feel like this really pushes an overly skeptical framing of how to approach philosophical questions, and on top of that it feels atomistic: We look at each proposition and 'question' it, as if any proposition should be defended on its own merits and not in relationship to a broader conceptual/scientific/philosophical framework.
As someone who is trending toward a more holistic and framework-based model of philosophical thinking (not completely, but more than other philosophers both now and in the past), I wonder: Does our mantra "Question Everything" really fit?
Not wanting to just be a critic without offering an alternative, I was kicking around "Consider Everything" or, less eloquently "Consider Everything and its Interconnections".
What do you think, philosofriends?
#philosophy #academia #academicchatter

2025-01-04 14:15:49 UTC

(Real) Moral Dilemma
Suppose you could donate a life saving resource, but only enough to save one life.
You favor a legal policy according to which the resource goes to whomever needs it most regardless of identity, but you live in a location which does not have such a legal policy.
In addition, you live in a society which exhibits a clear pattern of discrimination in favor of group A and against groups B and C. One instance of this general pattern involves the donation of this life saving resource: More than 75% of those who donate the resource opt that it only be given to members of group A.
The moral dilemma: Do you express a preference that your donation recipient be chosen only in terms of need, thus expressing your view that all lives are of equal value? Or do you express a preference that your donation recipient be a member of group B or C, as to counteract systemic discrimination?
Please explain your answer in the comments if you'd like.
And feel free to share, this is a real and serious dilemma I am facing, and I'm happy to gather all of the viewpoints.

2024-12-08 11:36:39 UTC

@npub1qjq…zvaq is a necessary follow on Syria related stuff.

2024-12-03 19:59:31 UTC

Hi,
With the news the last few days, I am once again in search of the Mastodon accounts of journalists and on-the-ground activists in *South Korea* and *Georgia* that can help contextualize and inform about the situations there beyond the big explosions that make international headlines.
Please share if you might know someone or are interested!
And if there is some place in the world where you'd love to follow someone on-the-ground and in the know, feel free to add that country here in the replies (and I'll answer if I know someone, and others can answer as well)
#southkorea #georgia #tbilisi #journalism #activism

2024-11-30 11:14:24 UTC

"The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice."
https://fediphilosophy.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/571/605/194/137/431/original/81818eaa3ea8a440.png

2024-11-12 20:12:50 UTC

On October 13, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin sent a letter to the Netanyahu administration demanding an increase in the amount of aid entering Gaza to 350 trucks a day by mid-November (presumably November 13).
They threatened implications for weapons sales if their demands were not met.
The deadline is tomorrow.
1/3
(https://www.propublica.org/article/israel-gaza-humanitarian-aid-blinken-pentagon-warning-letter)

2024-11-06 08:39:38 UTC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIS_EHoGd5o

2024-10-24 20:06:44 UTC

When a fire investigator investigates the cause of a fire, he holds some background assumptions fixed: These are things that were necessary for the fire to break out, but don't constitute 'interesting' explanations of the fire's occurrence.
In a house, the presence of oxygen doesn't explain the fire in an interesting way: oxygen is ubiquitous. But in a fire on the international space station, the presence of oxygen may be an interesting and worthwhile difference maker in the explanation of why the fire broke out.
What determines what explanation(s) are interesting or worthwhile depends on what background factors we hold fixed.
However, explaining election results involves far too complicated and messy of factors, with too many variables for anyone to keep track of. Furthermore, what is held fixed and what is not is going to differ along ideological lines: we naturally look for 'the' explanation that helps to advance the narrative of our favored ideology, holding fixed as assumed background whatever is not relevant to our favored explanation.
For one of a million possible examples: If you're a moderate Harris voter, and Harris loses Michigan, you might want to blame Arab Americans. If you're a progressive Harris voter, and Harris loses Michigan, you might want to blame her unwillingness to fight for Palestinian lives.
What's my point? My point is that, in two weeks, America will have an election, and everyone on social media, TV, and op-eds, will explain the result in terms of their favored narrative. These narratives are inherently vastly oversimplified, and often people disagreeing are not disagreeing about facts but about *which facts were important difference makers*. It's like two fire inspectors arguing over whether the gas or the match started the fire.
Those conversations are worth having, but I beg you: don't lose cite of the fact that these are inherently oversimplified, elections are very rarely won based on one or two steps or missteps, even if our cognitive limitations make us tunnel visioned looking for one or two steps or missteps to explain complex events.

2024-10-20 22:55:26 UTC

@npub1vlk…m0nh Hey, I just wanted to say thanks so much for all of your work, it is really really appreciated.

2024-10-13 19:27:07 UTC

Today I'm reading Human Rights Watch's 1995 report on the failures of the UN peacekeeping force in the massacres in Srebenica.
What made me think about a random 1995 report on the failures of a UN peacekeeping force? No comment.
https://www.hrw.org/report/1995/10/15/fall-srebrenica-and-failure-un-peacekeeping/bosnia-and-herzegovina

2024-09-19 06:56:06 UTC

¹ Any false daring conclusions or cat loving mistakes that remain in this paper are completely the fault of my toxoplasmosis and not my reviewers nor myself.

2024-09-13 07:03:33 UTC

New website, feedback welcome!
https://sites.google.com/view/pjwerner

2024-08-08 11:44:06 UTC

In recent days, Russia has slowed and blocked YouTube, Turkiye has blocked Instagram (?), and Israel's block of Al-Jazeera continues.
Of course there are many other longstanding blocks in many other places.
For those of you new to the VPN scene, or perhaps those of you who know about VPNs but can't afford one, may I recommend the donation-based VPN run by the anarchist tech-collective riseup.net?
https://riseup.net/en/vpn
It works well, in my experience. (If someone in #Russia and #Turkiye could confirm this is effective in their countries as well, that would be helpful :)).
If you can't afford to donate, don't worry, its free! If you can, please donate if you use it!
I have no affiliation with Rise Up, I just think its cool to support collectives like this when possible, and I think most haven't heard of them because they obviously have no ability to advertise.
#censorship #internetcensorship

2024-08-01 21:16:38 UTC

If a regional war breaks out, I lay the blame largely at the feet of the Israeli government, who has, at every turn, chosen to escalate the situation rather than trying to deescalate. A ceasefire deal could have been agreed to MONTHS, perhaps even a half year or more ago. (Of course the war didn't *really* need to go on longer than the end of October, but I understand that that wasn't politically realistic.)
But I'm also gritting my teeth, because I know that in the coming days, as myself and those around me fear for our physical safety given the inevitable (and predictable) Iranian and Hezbollah response.
Yes, including those of us who have been being arrested for protesting the war, have been beaten up by settlers who continue to run rampant in the West Bank, and those who have done more than anything you, dear reader, have done to end Israeli apartheid by physically putting their bodies on the line.
Of course first and foremost I worry for those around me, and about what might come next, for Israelis, for Palestinians, for Lebanese, and for Iranians. But I grit my teeth because I know, or have recently learned, that the Western Left has far too often made the mistake of conflating the citizens and residents of a nation-state with that nation-state's governments.
Those of you who follow me have seen what I share, and have seen my posts. You should know that I think Israel is committing a potential genocide in Gaza, that Israel has long been an apartheid state which was founded on a campaign of ethnic cleansing, and that we need very strong sanctions and a ban on weapons sales to Israel until they change their ways.
But I'm still a human being, and I still don't want to die in an unnecessary war, even if I'm killed by the people you think, through your perverse enemy-of-my-enemy-are-my-friend reasoning, are 'the good guys'.
Please try to remember this when whatever happens next happens.
#Israel #Hezbollah #Iran #Gaza #Genocide