Overview
I'm primarily interested in questions about the minds of animals, and what we can learn about animals' minds from their behaviour. My current research centres around two questions. First, are animals mindreaders - do they understand that the creatures surrounding 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 might come in 'minimal' forms, and how they manifest in behaviour. In past work, I have also looked at what evidence of mirror self-recognition in animals tells us about their self-awareness.
As well as my interests in animal cognition, I have broader interests in the philosophy of mind and psychology, metaphysics, philosophy of biology, epistemology and the philosophy of science.
I'm primarily interested in questions about the minds of animals, and what we can learn about animals' minds from their behaviour. My current research centres around two questions. First, are animals mindreaders - do they understand that the creatures surrounding 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 might come in 'minimal' forms, and how they manifest in behaviour. In past work, I have also looked at what evidence of mirror self-recognition in animals tells us about their self-awareness.
As well as my interests in animal cognition, I have broader interests in the philosophy of mind and psychology, metaphysics, philosophy of biology, epistemology and the philosophy of science.
Publications
2017. Mirror Self-Recognition & Self-Identification, Philosophy & Phenomenological Research 94 (3)
2017. Mirror Self-Recognition & Self-Identification, Philosophy & Phenomenological Research 94 (3)
Recent & Upcoming Talks
2017
Two Logical Problems for Animal Mindreading
- Mind Network, University of Nottingham
-British Society for Philosophy of Science, University of Edinburgh
Episodic Memory, Consciousness & Behaviour
- Issues in Philosophy of Memory, University of Cologne
- Joint Session of the Aristotelian Society & the Mind Association, University of Edinburgh
False Belief and Counterfactual Thinking
-New Directions in the Study of the Mind, University of Cambridge
2016
Mapping the Minds of Others
- Joint Session of the Aristotelian Society & the Mind Association, Cardiff University
- Persons as Animals Conference, Leeds University
- Moral Sciences Club, University of Cambridge
2015
In Defence of Intentionalism About Moods
- Joint Session of the Aristotelian Society & the Mind Association, University of Warwick
Moral Sense or Common Sense? The Evolution of Mindreading
- Empathy & Interpretation Across the Disciplines, University of Cambridge
2017
Two Logical Problems for Animal Mindreading
- Mind Network, University of Nottingham
-British Society for Philosophy of Science, University of Edinburgh
Episodic Memory, Consciousness & Behaviour
- Issues in Philosophy of Memory, University of Cologne
- Joint Session of the Aristotelian Society & the Mind Association, University of Edinburgh
False Belief and Counterfactual Thinking
-New Directions in the Study of the Mind, University of Cambridge
2016
Mapping the Minds of Others
- Joint Session of the Aristotelian Society & the Mind Association, Cardiff University
- Persons as Animals Conference, Leeds University
- Moral Sciences Club, University of Cambridge
2015
In Defence of Intentionalism About Moods
- Joint Session of the Aristotelian Society & the Mind Association, University of Warwick
Moral Sense or Common Sense? The Evolution of Mindreading
- Empathy & Interpretation Across the Disciplines, University of Cambridge
