Funding the Commons

What is a philosopher-builder? A philosopher-builder is someone who starts from a thesis about human flourishing. Rather than simply looking for a gap in the market, they start out with a vision of the human capacities that are worth developing, what constrains them, and how we can expand them. They reason from first principles about human potential and translate those insights into products or institutions. To understand what a philosopher-builder is, it’s important to grasp what they are not: 1. They are not philosopher-kings. They do not have a blueprint for a society or a theory about how everyone out to live. Some of our most importance capacities are independent judgment, creativity, and the pursuit of knowledge. They seek to expand these capabilities, not prescribe outcomes 2. Open to disconfirming evidence. A strong philosophical starting point is open to rational criticism and has to be tested against reality. Their hypothesis is open to challenge and evidence should not only inform how they build their product, but potentially cause them to revise their underlying thesis. Philosophical seriousness demands intellectual humility. 3. Not a nihilistic iterator. “Make something people want” is a powerful entrepreneurial discipline, but by itself, it cannot establish whether satisfying people’s immediate wants advances human flourishing. You cannot outsource your belief in which ends are worth pursuing to market feedback. The philosopher-builder is someone who combines philosophical conviction with empirical discipline. They have a vision, ambition, and an openness to revision. We believe that AI isn’t a normal technology like the internet or the smartphone that society will simply absorb. Instead, it will create the biggest opening for institution-building since the American founding and philosopher-builders will be more important than ever. If this vision of how to build resonates with you, we want to hear from you.