Alex Stern

"Our language did not evolve for scientific or metaphysical purposes, but just to help us make do and get along in the real world." commonwealmagazine.org/wittgenstein-a…

“To really understand language, LLMs would have to be capable of being born.” Here’s someone who really knows their stuff drawing on the writing (and spirit) of Wittgenstein to expose the abject shortcomings of chatbots as substitute humans

I wrote about Wittgenstein and whether AI can mean @commonwealmag

"It is no accident that interest in this new science of consciousness has exploded as participation in mainstream religion has plummeted." good review of new Michael Pollan consciousness book by TM Luhrmann in @amscholar

"A turn away from this imperial arrogance would be a conversion like no other in American history." George Scialabba writes on America's criminal war in Iran: commonwealmagazine.org/scialabba-iran…

Me in @commonwealmag on why the NFL can't figure out what a catch is

"I guess I’m at the end of my life, of course, but am I at the end of the road in terms of faith? I have no idea." Martin Scorsese sits down with our own @AlexWStern to discuss filmmaking, religion, and ‘The Saints’: commonwealmagazine.org/scorsese-inter…

link: commonwealmagazine.org/inner-life-tec…

I wrote about the decline of inner life in the latest issue of @commonwealmag

Wrote about the Frankfurt School on holiday for the Republic of Letters substack

Today in @commonwealmag I'm confronting my past self: commonwealmagazine.org/trump-new-righ…

I wrote about philosopher Frédéric Gros's new book on shame in the @washingtonpost

@washingtonpost washingtonpost.com/books/2025/06/…

"The destruction of our rights and democracy is directly tied to the extreme wealth inequality that has been growing for years in America." @AlexWStern on Bernie Sanders's 'Fighting Oligarchy Tour': commonwealmagazine.org/bernie-hits-ro…

Probably my favorite piece written about Francis during his papacy is my friend @vcunningham's beautiful essay on Fratelli Tutti, the encyclical Francis published in 2020. Below is how it begins, with a link to follow