Close-reading Kant with LLM help: the "Kantian Mentat" probably doesn't exist
jessi_cata · x · 2026-11-13
The author admits knowing little Kant, but a pointer from @lumpenspace — that the three formulations of the categorical imperative are supposed to be equivalent — changed how he reads the "means to an end" formulation and revealed he hadn't closely read the Critique of Practical Reason. His conclusion: the "Kantian Mentat" taken seriously probably doesn't exist, and if it does it's extremely rare; bootstrapping on it may require close readings of Kant, perhaps with LLM assistance.
More from AGI Musings
- Scott Alexander: AI Lab Employees Should Unionize for Safety — AaronBergman18 · 2026-11-13
- Incremental research is now riskier than going all in on big ideas — fkasummer · 2026-11-13
- CBS: While Americans resist AI data centers, China embraces the boom — csuwildcat · 2026-11-13
- Humans as "Happy Dogs" Under Superintelligence: AI Circle Debates Our Place — fkasummer · 2026-11-13
- Courage Scarcer Than Genius: Debate Over Whether AI Research Is Purely Industrial Now — akbirthko · 2026-11-13
- Stanford Course Shares Data: AI Users Score Higher on Homework, Worse on Exams — stanfordnlp · 2026-11-13