Simon Fitzpatrick

Happy to share this new paper with @kristinandrews.bsky.social. We discuss the logic of recent arguments for the conservation of animal cultures, and what they tend to overlook: animal cultures matter first and foremost because they matter to the animals themselves. link.springer.com/article/10.3...

People who teach about AI: do you feel that students have become less interested in how AI actually works as it has become more ubiquitous? If so, is this AI burnout, or like how people aren't very curious about how TVs work because they are so commonplace?

I wrote this book with Louise Daoust and forty of our friends.

My entry on Animal Thought for the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy is now online! plato.stanford.edu/entries/anim...

🏆 Congratulations to 2026 #Lakatos Award winner John Norton, who receives the award for his books The Material Theory of Induction and The Large-Scale Structure of Inductive Inference. Congratulations! More: www.lse.ac.uk/philosophy/n... #PhilSci #LSEPhilosophy @center4philsci.bsky.social

We're excited for PAMBA 2027 in Warwick April 27-29! See you there! Abstract submissions due January 7. philevents.org/event/show/1...

We have a new little paper out: an introduction to the philosophy of comparative psychology. If you're tired of artificial intelligences, you can read about biological ones instead.

New article for the SEP: an overview of philosophical debates over normative phenomena in animals, including morality, moral agency, social norms, normative thought, and the implications for animal ethics and welfare. I hope it is useful! plato.stanford.edu/entries/anim...

Another exciting new addition to the philosophy of social norms: Simon Fitzpatrick @simonfitzpatrick.bsky.social 's new SEP article on Animal Normativity: plato.stanford.edu/entries/anim...

Fabulous new entry for the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy just dropped! 🐝🐵 🐘🐠Animal Normativity 🦌🐶🦜🐬https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/animal-normativity/ authored by @simonfitzpatrick.bsky.social

Wondering when the next Philosophy of Animal Minds and Behavior Association meeting will be? PAMBA 2027 will be at the University of Warwick on April 27-29, 2027. Confirmed keynotes: Steve Butterfill, Marta Halina, Susana Monsó @martahalina.bsky.social @susanamonso.com Stay tuned for CFP!

Nice coverage in The Guardian of our article on the importance of conserving culture for conservation. with @simonfitzpatrick.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/environment/...

New open access publication in Topoi! @kristinandrews.bsky.social and I explore the ethics of AI animal translation projects. 🖥️🐬Before we build it, we need to take stock of the ethical implications. rdcu.be/fbZwv 🧵👇1/13

It took 3 years to complete this paper and it was difficult(!) but I think both @ctennie.bsky.social and I are grateful for the varied perspectives we gained as a result of this collaboration. If you work on ape culture, hopefully you'll feel the same doi.org/10.1017/ehs.... [Opens in a new window]

Join us at the LSE for Philosophy & Anthropology of Animals Ethics, 30 April - 1 May. Looking forward to the innovative dialogue format! www.lse.ac.uk/philosophy/e...

Just accepted: Demand Sharing and the Evolution of Morality – Mike Dacey & Paul Schofield Abstract in alt text or read it here: www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/... #philsci #philsky #hpbio

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

People who teach/research ethics of AI: philosophical discussions of human-AI relationships typically emphasize the worries, understandably. Is there any good philosophical work out there that is more positive about potential human-AI relationships? Looking for something accessible to undergrads...

Do non-human animals represent time? New Element in the #PhilBio series by Angelica Kaufmann—free to download until March 16! Kaufmann argues that temporal cognition is widespread across many animal species & advances comparative analyses 👇📕 www.cambridge.org/core/element... #evosky #HPS #cogsci

Chimpanzees have culture. Do they also have cultural heritage worthy of protection? @simonfitzpatrick.bsky.social and I argue they do in our new paper, because their cultural practices create value. link.springer.com/epdf/10.3758...

"Animal cultures matter first and foremost because they matter to the animals themselves." If you enjoyed our recent episode on the value of animal cultures, you may be interested in this new paper by @simonfitzpatrick.bsky.social & @kristinandrews.bsky.social! link.springer.com/article/10.3...

Last call for papers for the Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology! Don't miss a fabulous program in sunny Atlanta this February. Submissions due Nov 20. See you there! #philosophy #psychology #CFP southernsociety.org

SSPP submission deadline extended to Nov 20th!

The Philosophy call for papers for SSPP 26 is out! Speakers include Elisabeth Camp, Kristin Andrews, Muhammad Ali Khalidi, and Roberta Millstein. There'll also be a session in honor of Frans de Waal. Tell your friends! See you in Atlanta. southernsociety.org/AnnualMeeting/

Which animals do you co-construct behaviours with? Read our new paper and get inspired! @anthrofuentes.bsky.social Thank you to @carlsbergfondet.dk, @aiasdk.bsky.social and the John F. Templeton Foundation

Don't forget to submit to SSPP '26! Deadline is Nov 10th.

The Philosophy call for papers for SSPP 26 is out! Speakers include Elisabeth Camp, Kristin Andrews, Muhammad Ali Khalidi, and Roberta Millstein. There'll also be a session in honor of Frans de Waal. Tell your friends! See you in Atlanta. southernsociety.org/AnnualMeeting/

Humans have many unusual traditions. But did you know animals’ strange behaviors can become culture too? Out now in Current Biology (doi.org/10.1016/j.cu...) we show the rise and spread of a surprising tradition: interspecies infant abduction. Interactive timeline (www.ab.mpg.de/671374) 🧵 (1/12)

PAMBA Santa Barbara begins! @simonfitzpatrick.bsky.social examines how and why animal culture matters

In the past 5 years, there’s been an explosion of new work on the philosophy & cog sci of norms. If you want to get up to speed on it, check out this newly revised SEP entry on the Psychology of Normative Cognition by @dryan149.bsky.social, Stephen Setman & me. plato.stanford.edu/entries/psyc...

New paper alert 📢📢📢 Study from the Taï chimpanzees shows that some gestures used by chimpanzees reflect dialects and that human activity has led to loss of cultural signal use. Please read here: Signal traditions and cultural loss in chimpanzees: Current Biology www.cell.com/current-biol...

In case you need a distraction from... *gestures broadly at everything* here's a cool 🚨NEW PREPRINT🚨: Philosopher of medicine Cristian Saborido and I tackle the question of whether animals engage in medical practices. Spoiler alert: we think they very much do👇🧵 1/20

Are humans the only species that communicates when a collaborator is missing information? In @pnas.org, Luke Townrow and I show that our closest relatives, bonobos, can track when a partner is knowledgeable or ignorant, and tailor communication accordingly www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

We are pleased to invite submissions for the 2025 PAMBA Prize essay contest in the philosophy of animal minds for early-career researchers. The winning paper will be published in Biology & Philosophy and presented as a keynote at the meeting in Santa Barbara. For details: www.the-pamba.com/prize

More cool work on nonhuman normativity! link.springer.com/article/10.1...

plato.stanford.edu/entries/anim...

📣 New publication! Most animals used in research are also killed. The traditional 3Rs framework (Replace, Reduce, Refine) focuses solely on decreasing distress while ignoring the harm of death itself. This needs to change. link.springer.com/article/10.1...

My latest book (w/ Andrew Fenton & Mary Lee Jensvold) is finally out! We argue that harmful research w/ NHPs must be held to same ethical standards as research w/ vulnerable humans. The digital version is free Open Access: www.cambridge.org/core/element... #Bioethics #ResearchEthics #AnimalEthics

Looking forward to the second (but my first) PAMBA in April! Should be a good time.

PAMBA 2025 in Santa Barbara is inching closer! April 24-26 will be here before you know it, with keynote speakers Dorit Bar-On Laura Danón Simon Fitzpatrick Mark Rowlands Stay tuned for the CFP and exciting news!

New paper out in Animal Cognition: bumblebee social learning, Lego, and DeepLabCut 🙂 link.springer.com/article/10.1...

For once I really like the headline that an outlet picked: "To truly understand non-human grief, we need to think like the animals", my latest piece for New Scientist.

Animals—from bees to butterflies, porcupines to primates—medicate themselves. They seek out bitter plants, they treat wounds, they amputate limbs, they eat clay. How do they know what they know? Our latest episode—a chat with @jaapderoode.bsky.social & M. Huffman! Listen: disi.org/animal-heal-...

Our book came out today 🥳 In 'What Are Zoos For?' we examine the common justifications for zoos and argue that zoos are (or should be) for animals, placing animal welfare at the centre of their operations. Order here, or through most online booksellers: bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/trade/what-a...

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

"Older animals perform vital roles in populations and ecosystems," writes @kellerfish.bsky.social, but "the value of old, wise animals is not usually considered when we manage animal populations and seek to protect biodiversity." theconversation.com/humans-are-k...

Philosophers and psychologists- don't forget to submit to the OG conference! The SSPP has long fostered deep conversations between philosophers and psychologists-and has long been a place for animal cognition researchers and philosophers to exchange ideas. Deadline for Phil Nov 22, for Psych Dec 1

The SPP can for papers is out. The Society for Philosophy and Psychology (SPP) invites submissions of papers to be presented at its 51st Annual Meeting, to be held June 19-21, 2025 at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. Please submit an abstract by January 24, 2025 at 11:59pm EST.

New chapter in the forthcoming Routledge Handbook of Mindshaping. philpapers.org/rec/FITMIN