Skip to main content
Access provided by

Nicholas Agar

Nicholas Agar

11 commentaries

Nicholas Agar is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Waikato, New Zealand, the author of How to Be Human in the Digital Economy (MIT Press, 2019), and co-author, with Dan Weijers and Stuart Whatley, of How to Think about Progress: A Skeptic's Guide to Technology (Springer Cham, 2024).

Sort by: Show:
  1. The Techno-Realist Manifesto
    agar8_Heritage Images GettyImages_retrofuturism Heritage Images/Getty Images

    The Techno-Realist Manifesto

    Nov 28, 2024 Nicholas Agar & Stuart Whatley question the widespread belief that all our biggest problems will soon succumb to engineered solutions.

  2. Nicholas Agar on Elon Musk, AI, the futurism industry, and more
    GettyImages-2072805051

    Nicholas Agar on Elon Musk, AI, the futurism industry, and more

    Nov 19, 2024 Nicholas Agar urges us not to put too much stock in Musk-style “Mars-shots,” describes how the humanities needs to evolve in our time of disorienting change, suggests that humanists might soon get bored with artificial intelligence, and more.

  3. Is AI a Climate Game-Changer?
    whatley19_Getty Images Getty Images

    Is AI a Climate Game-Changer?

    Sep 11, 2023 Nicholas Agar, et al. consider what role the technology could play in humanity's response to the climate crisis.

  4. Should Humanities Professors Be Automated?
    agar7_Getty Images_ai teacher Getty Images

    Should Humanities Professors Be Automated?

    Sep 22, 2022 Nicholas Agar considers the implications of recent successes with AI-generated academic research and writing.

  5. Finding Purpose in the Humanities
    agar6_Bernd Weißbrodpicture alliance via Getty Images_university Bernd Weißbrodpicture alliance via Getty Images

    Finding Purpose in the Humanities

    Dec 9, 2021 Nicholas Agar calls for educators to adapt to post-millennial reality by abolishing the traditional term paper.

  1. karl3_Apu GomesGetty Images_LAfires Apu Gomes/Getty Images
    0

    A House Gutted by Fire

    Terry Lynn Karl blames the inferno now consuming Los Angeles County squarely on greenhouse-gas emissions.
  2. op_janeway17_Natalya KosarevichGetty Images_moneyhandslightbulb Natalya Kosarevich/Getty Images
    0

    False Economies

    William H. Janeway

    For decades, an efficiency-centered “economic style” has dominated public policy, overriding the concerns for fairness that animated the New Deal and Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society. Now, Americans must brace for economic governance that delivers neither efficiency nor fairness, only chaos.

     highlights the high cost of the single-minded focus on efficiency that has come to dominate the discipline.
  3. bq trump institutions Photo by Brendan McDermid-Pool/Getty Images
    0

    Can US Institutions Withstand Trump 2.0?

    While some observers doubt that US President-elect Donald Trump poses a grave threat to US democracy, others are bracing themselves for the destruction of the country’s constitutional order. With Trump’s inauguration just around the corner, we asked PS commentators how vulnerable US institutions really are.

  4. wagner31_Westend61Getty Images_climatependulum Westend61/Getty Images
    0

    The Climate Policy Pendulum

    Gernot Wagner notes that green technologies retain their many advantages, regardless of national political developments.
  5. strain35_Christina HouseGettyImages_commencement_ceremony Christina House/Getty Images
    1

    Could High-Skill Immigration Increase Under Trump?

    Michael R. Strain argues that the recent kerfuffle over foreign workers underscores the president-elect’s pragmatic instincts.
  6. posner38_Viktor SidorovGettyImages_un_flag Viktor Sidorov/Getty Images
    2

    What Happened to International Law?

    Eric Posner sees the web of treaties, conventions, and institutions as another victim of the anti-globalization backlash.
  7. palacio165_Picture AllianceGettyImages_eu_flags Picture Alliance/Getty Images
    0

    Europe’s Year of Fundamental Choices

    Ana Palacio considers the complex array of internal and external challenges the European Union must confront in 2025.
  8. coral1_Mandel NganGettyImages_us_supreme_court Mandel Ngan/Getty Images
    0

    Texas’s Online Age-Verification Law Must Be Overturned

    Lilian Coral & Prem Trivedi urge the US Supreme Court to protect internet users from legislation posing new privacy and security risks.
  9. bandemehr1_The Boston GlobeGettyImages_X-ray fluorescence analyzer The Boston Globe/Getty Images
    0

    Revealing an Invisible Health Threat

    Angela Bandemehr & Albert Park tout deployment of hand-held X-ray devices to prevent lead poisoning in low- and middle-income countries.

Edit Newsletter Preferences

Set up Notification

To receive email updates regarding this {entity_type}, please enter your email below.

If you are not already registered, this will create a PS account for you. You should receive an activation email shortly.