Overview
I'm interested in the mind and its place in the natural world. Understanding the mind does not only involve considering the human mind - since animals have minds too. Any account of the mind must be sensitive to the many kinds of minds which exist. For that reason, my work largely focuses on the minds of animals, and on what we can learn about animals' minds by observing their behaviour. My current research centres on two questions. First, are animals mindreaders - do they know that the creatures around them have mental lives? Second, do animals have episodic memory - can they recall and mentally relive their past experiences? My research aims to clarify the nature of these mental capacities, whether they exist in 'minimal' forms, and how they manifest in behaviour. I've also written about mirror self-recognition in animals, and what it tells us about animals' self-awareness.
Alongside my interest in animal cognition, I have research interests in the philosophy of mind and psychology more broadly, as well as metaphysics and the philosophy of biology. Recently, I've been thinking about how we should count organisms in cases of conjoined twinning - and why this matters for animalism, the view that each of us is a human animal.
I'm interested in the mind and its place in the natural world. Understanding the mind does not only involve considering the human mind - since animals have minds too. Any account of the mind must be sensitive to the many kinds of minds which exist. For that reason, my work largely focuses on the minds of animals, and on what we can learn about animals' minds by observing their behaviour. My current research centres on two questions. First, are animals mindreaders - do they know that the creatures around them have mental lives? Second, do animals have episodic memory - can they recall and mentally relive their past experiences? My research aims to clarify the nature of these mental capacities, whether they exist in 'minimal' forms, and how they manifest in behaviour. I've also written about mirror self-recognition in animals, and what it tells us about animals' self-awareness.
Alongside my interest in animal cognition, I have research interests in the philosophy of mind and psychology more broadly, as well as metaphysics and the philosophy of biology. Recently, I've been thinking about how we should count organisms in cases of conjoined twinning - and why this matters for animalism, the view that each of us is a human animal.
Publications
Articles
Conjoined Twinning & Biological Individuation. Forthcoming. Philosophical Studies.
Abstract: In dicephalus conjoined twinning, it appears that two heads share a body; in cephalopagus, it appears two bodies share a head. How many human animals are present in these cases? One answer is that there are two in both cases: conjoined twins are precisely that, conjoined twins. Another is that the number of human animals is the same as the apparent number of bodies - so, there is one in dicephalus and two in cephalopagus. I show that both answers are incorrect: on prominent accounts of biological individuation, there is a single human animal in both cases. This has a number of consequences for the debate about what we are.
The Impure Phenomenology of Episodic Memory. Forthcoming. Mind and Language.
Abstract: Episodic memory has a distinctive phenomenology: it involves 'mentally reliving' a past event. It's been suggested that if episodic memory is characterised in terms of this phenomenology, it will be 'impossible to test' for it in animals - because this is to characterise it in terms of its 'purely phenomenal features', which cannot be detected in nonverbal behaviour. I argue that this is a mistake. The phenomenological features of episodic memory are impure phenomenological features, which can be detected in animal behaviour. So, insisting on a phenomenological characterisation of episodic memory does nothing to damage the prospects for detecting it in nonhuman animals.
Mapping the Minds of Others. Forthcoming. Review of Philosophy & Psychology.
Abstract: Some mindreaders can ascribe representational states to others. I argue that these mindreaders might differ from one another with respect to the format they take representational states to have. Some might take mental states to be linguistic, whilst others might take them to be map-like or to have another format. Since formats differ in their expressive power and formal features, these differences make a significant difference to the range of mental state attributions a mindreader can make. I close by articulating the significance of this for the study of mindreading in the great apes.
Learning from the Past: Epistemic Generativity and the Function of Episodic Memory. Forthcoming. Journal of Consciousness Studies. Winner of the 2018 Annual Essay Prize of the Centre for Philosophical Psychology, University of Antwerp.
Abstract: I argue that the function of episodic memory is to store information about the past, against the currently orthodox view that it is to support imagining the future. I show that episodic memory is epistemically generative, allowing organisms to learn from past events retroactively. This confers adaptive benefits in three domains: reasoning about the world, skill and social interaction. Given the role played by evolutionary perspectives in comparative research, this argument necessitates a radical shift in the study of episodic memory in nonhumans.
Mirror Self-Recognition & Self-Identification. 2018. Philosophy & Phenomenological Research 97 (2)
Abstract: Some animals, including the great apes, are capable of mirror self-recognition. This is widely taken to show that they are self-aware - but there is some disagreement about whether the self-awareness in question is psychological or bodily self-awareness. I argue that self-recognition does not involve psychological self-awareness, but involves more than bodily self-awareness: it also involves 'objective self-awareness', the capacity for first-person thoughts which rest on identification, and are thus vulnerable to error through misidentification.
Other Pieces
Can Cats Read Minds? 2018. At the Institute of Art & Ideas.
How Smart is Your Pet? 2017. At the Institute of Art & Ideas.
Articles
Conjoined Twinning & Biological Individuation. Forthcoming. Philosophical Studies.
Abstract: In dicephalus conjoined twinning, it appears that two heads share a body; in cephalopagus, it appears two bodies share a head. How many human animals are present in these cases? One answer is that there are two in both cases: conjoined twins are precisely that, conjoined twins. Another is that the number of human animals is the same as the apparent number of bodies - so, there is one in dicephalus and two in cephalopagus. I show that both answers are incorrect: on prominent accounts of biological individuation, there is a single human animal in both cases. This has a number of consequences for the debate about what we are.
The Impure Phenomenology of Episodic Memory. Forthcoming. Mind and Language.
Abstract: Episodic memory has a distinctive phenomenology: it involves 'mentally reliving' a past event. It's been suggested that if episodic memory is characterised in terms of this phenomenology, it will be 'impossible to test' for it in animals - because this is to characterise it in terms of its 'purely phenomenal features', which cannot be detected in nonverbal behaviour. I argue that this is a mistake. The phenomenological features of episodic memory are impure phenomenological features, which can be detected in animal behaviour. So, insisting on a phenomenological characterisation of episodic memory does nothing to damage the prospects for detecting it in nonhuman animals.
Mapping the Minds of Others. Forthcoming. Review of Philosophy & Psychology.
Abstract: Some mindreaders can ascribe representational states to others. I argue that these mindreaders might differ from one another with respect to the format they take representational states to have. Some might take mental states to be linguistic, whilst others might take them to be map-like or to have another format. Since formats differ in their expressive power and formal features, these differences make a significant difference to the range of mental state attributions a mindreader can make. I close by articulating the significance of this for the study of mindreading in the great apes.
Learning from the Past: Epistemic Generativity and the Function of Episodic Memory. Forthcoming. Journal of Consciousness Studies. Winner of the 2018 Annual Essay Prize of the Centre for Philosophical Psychology, University of Antwerp.
Abstract: I argue that the function of episodic memory is to store information about the past, against the currently orthodox view that it is to support imagining the future. I show that episodic memory is epistemically generative, allowing organisms to learn from past events retroactively. This confers adaptive benefits in three domains: reasoning about the world, skill and social interaction. Given the role played by evolutionary perspectives in comparative research, this argument necessitates a radical shift in the study of episodic memory in nonhumans.
Mirror Self-Recognition & Self-Identification. 2018. Philosophy & Phenomenological Research 97 (2)
Abstract: Some animals, including the great apes, are capable of mirror self-recognition. This is widely taken to show that they are self-aware - but there is some disagreement about whether the self-awareness in question is psychological or bodily self-awareness. I argue that self-recognition does not involve psychological self-awareness, but involves more than bodily self-awareness: it also involves 'objective self-awareness', the capacity for first-person thoughts which rest on identification, and are thus vulnerable to error through misidentification.
Other Pieces
Can Cats Read Minds? 2018. At the Institute of Art & Ideas.
How Smart is Your Pet? 2017. At the Institute of Art & Ideas.
Papers In Progress/Under Review
Two More Logical Problems for Animal Mindreading (under review)
Abstract: The animal mindreading research programme faces a 'logical problem', according to which the methods used to detect mindreading in animals cannot detect it, in principle. Existing solutions to this problem succeed relative to a permissive conception of mindreading - but I show that at least two more demanding conceptions of mindreading are prominent in the literature. These generate two more logical problems, requiring us to discriminate between stronger and weaker conceptions of mindreading. Against some indications to the contrary, I argue that these are empirical problems, which can be solved. If we are interested in finding out what animals know about other minds, they are worth taking seriously.
The Benefits of Hindsight (in progress). A paper on the function of episodic memory.
Discovering the Past (in progress). A paper on the relationship between episodic memory and our understanding of time.
False Belief & Counterfactual Thinking (in progress). A paper on what makes the false belief test challenging.
Two More Logical Problems for Animal Mindreading (under review)
Abstract: The animal mindreading research programme faces a 'logical problem', according to which the methods used to detect mindreading in animals cannot detect it, in principle. Existing solutions to this problem succeed relative to a permissive conception of mindreading - but I show that at least two more demanding conceptions of mindreading are prominent in the literature. These generate two more logical problems, requiring us to discriminate between stronger and weaker conceptions of mindreading. Against some indications to the contrary, I argue that these are empirical problems, which can be solved. If we are interested in finding out what animals know about other minds, they are worth taking seriously.
The Benefits of Hindsight (in progress). A paper on the function of episodic memory.
Discovering the Past (in progress). A paper on the relationship between episodic memory and our understanding of time.
False Belief & Counterfactual Thinking (in progress). A paper on what makes the false belief test challenging.
Recent & Upcoming Talks
The Benefits of Hindsight
- Centre for Philosophical Psychology, University of Antwerp, 2019
- Issues in Philosophy of Memory 2, Université Grenoble Alpes, 2019
- European Society for Philosophy & Psychology, Athens, 2019
Discovering the Past
- About Time: The De Nunc & The De Se, University of Leeds, 2019
- Mind & Reason Seminar, University of York, 2019
Memory: What is it Good For?
- CamPoS, University of Cambridge, 2018
The Impure Phenomenology of Episodic Memory
- Comparative Cognition Lab Group, University of Cambridge, 2018
- London Mind Group, KCL/UCL, 2018
- Stirling Visiting Speaker Seminar, University of Stirling, 2018
- L'animalité Workshop, Université de Nantes, 2018
Dicephalus Twinning & Biological Individuation
- Serious Metaphysics Group, University of Cambridge, 2018
- Joint Session, Oxford University, 2018
Two Logical Problems for Animal Mindreading
- Mind Network, University of Nottingham, 2017
- Joint Session, University of Edinburgh, 2017
Episodic Memory, Consciousness & Behaviour
- Issues in Philosophy of Memory, University of Cologne, 2017
- British Society for Philosophy of Science, University of Edinburgh, 2017
False Belief and Counterfactual Thinking
- New Directions in the Study of the Mind, University of Cambridge, 2017
Mapping the Minds of Others
- Joint Session, Cardiff University, 2016
- Persons as Animals Conference, Leeds University, 2016
- Moral Sciences Club, University of Cambridge, 2016
In Defence of Intentionalism About Moods
- Joint Session, University of Warwick, 2015
Moral Sense or Common Sense? The Evolution of Mindreading
- Empathy & Interpretation Across the Disciplines, University of Cambridge, 2015
The Benefits of Hindsight
- Centre for Philosophical Psychology, University of Antwerp, 2019
- Issues in Philosophy of Memory 2, Université Grenoble Alpes, 2019
- European Society for Philosophy & Psychology, Athens, 2019
Discovering the Past
- About Time: The De Nunc & The De Se, University of Leeds, 2019
- Mind & Reason Seminar, University of York, 2019
Memory: What is it Good For?
- CamPoS, University of Cambridge, 2018
The Impure Phenomenology of Episodic Memory
- Comparative Cognition Lab Group, University of Cambridge, 2018
- London Mind Group, KCL/UCL, 2018
- Stirling Visiting Speaker Seminar, University of Stirling, 2018
- L'animalité Workshop, Université de Nantes, 2018
Dicephalus Twinning & Biological Individuation
- Serious Metaphysics Group, University of Cambridge, 2018
- Joint Session, Oxford University, 2018
Two Logical Problems for Animal Mindreading
- Mind Network, University of Nottingham, 2017
- Joint Session, University of Edinburgh, 2017
Episodic Memory, Consciousness & Behaviour
- Issues in Philosophy of Memory, University of Cologne, 2017
- British Society for Philosophy of Science, University of Edinburgh, 2017
False Belief and Counterfactual Thinking
- New Directions in the Study of the Mind, University of Cambridge, 2017
Mapping the Minds of Others
- Joint Session, Cardiff University, 2016
- Persons as Animals Conference, Leeds University, 2016
- Moral Sciences Club, University of Cambridge, 2016
In Defence of Intentionalism About Moods
- Joint Session, University of Warwick, 2015
Moral Sense or Common Sense? The Evolution of Mindreading
- Empathy & Interpretation Across the Disciplines, University of Cambridge, 2015