I worked with Claude to put together an animated “explainer” of my new paradox of deontology:
I’m pretty happy with how it turned out! Watching it seems easier than reading an academic paper, though it’s comparably comprehensive. (Very different from the music video, which is fun but of course far less rigorous.)1 For anyone teaching on the topic, I’d be happy to see the explainer assigned as an optional alternative medium to the paper itself.
I’ve created a YouTube playlist for my philosophy animations — my next project is to turn The Commander’s Comfort into a slightly more “serious” explainer on expected value.
I’ll be curious to hear if anyone ends up finding these helpful at all. (I enjoy playing around with their creation regardless, but it’s always a bonus if others appreciate the results!) I’m a bit surprised it isn’t more common to see animated academic explainers these days, now that “technical barriers” are a thing of the past. Seems like the kind of thing more academics should consider trying, to make their ideas more accessible. If you’re inspired to vibe-code one yourself, share the link in the comments!
I also updated my interactive Moral Preference Test, with thanks to everyone who provided feedback on the early version.