BEGIN:VCALENDAR BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:How to Reason with Words: Models\, Metaphors\, Metaphysics DTSTART:20261006T210000Z DTEND:20261006T230000Z UID:https://cdh.princeton.edu/events/2026/10/how-to-reason-with-words-mode ls-metaphors-metaphysics/ DESCRIPTION:\n\n If large language models can reason — as they are now widely said to do — then the source of that reason must be words. This t alk discusses the epistemic order that LLMs are currently spreading throug hout our culture\, from policy to science to writing. LLMs tap into a vein of rationality in which poetics and rhetoric\, rather than deduction and induction\, play the leading role. They present a new status quo in what c an be called the "\;accidental mythology"\; of the modern world. I n this new myth of reason\, metaphor too easily slides into metaphysics\, unchecked by the model.Leif Weatherby is founding director of the Digital Theory Lab and Professor of German at New York University. His scholarship focuses on literary theory\, digital culture\, and the history of science \, with particular attention to the philosophical foundations of computing and AI.He is the author of Transplanting the Metaphysical Organ: German R omanticism between Leibniz and Marx (Fordham\, 2016) and\, most recently\, Language Machines: Cultural AI and the End of Remainder Humanism (Univers ity of Minnesota Press\, 2025)\, which argues that large language models d on'\;t simulate cognition but instead generate culture. His writing ha s appeared in the The New York Times\, Critical Inquiry\, and The Point Ma gazine. He is currently a fellow of the Open Society Foundations.\n\n\n\n \n \n \n Co-organized by the Center for Digital Humanitie s\, Media + Modernity\, and the Princeton Humanities Initiative.\n \n\n \n\n\n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n Additional pro grams\n \n\n \n\n \n \n \n\n \n\n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n Can LLMs Reason? A Hands-On Explora tion\n \n \n \n\n \n \n\n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Oct 5 12:00PM –1:30PM\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n Leif Weatherby\n \n \n\n \n\n \n \n\n \n \n \n Workshop\n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n Leif Weatherby &am p\; Mel Andrews in conversation\n \n \n \n\n \n \n\n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Oct 8 6:00PM–8:00PM\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n Leif Weatherby\n \n \n\n \n\n \n \n\n \n \n \n Talk\n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n\n\n\nhttps://cdh.princet on.edu/events/2026/10/how-to-reason-with-words-models-metaphors-metaphysic s/ LOCATION:Betts Auditorium END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR