Publications |
The limits of our explanation: a case study in Myxococcus xanthus cooperation
Biological Theory (2024)
In this paper, I demonstrate two ways in which our major theories of the evolution of cooperation may fail to capture particular social phenomena. I use the case of group predation in the strain of myxobacteria known as Myxococcus xanthus as an illustrative example. I show the genomic, ecological and modelling difficulties in constructing an adequate simplified model of this social behaviour, with lessons for the modelling of cooperative behaviour among other organisms.
You can find the paper here.
You can find the paper here.
Commitment: From Hunting to Promising
Biology and Philosophy (2024)
I illustrate the transition between two forms of commitment in our evolutionary history: from pre-linguistic commitment, in the form of participation in group hunting among early hominins, to linguistic commitment, in the form of explicit promises. I show how group hunting changed our cooperative landscape and provided the selective environment for the evolution of a more effective commitment.
You can find the paper here. A more public-facing version of my thoughts on commitment and cooperation is available in Aeon, under the title "The commitment to collaborate".
You can find the paper here. A more public-facing version of my thoughts on commitment and cooperation is available in Aeon, under the title "The commitment to collaborate".
Metatickles and Death in Damascus
Electronic Proceedings for Theoretical Computer Science (2023)
Simon Huttegger has developed a version of deliberative decision theory that reconciles the prescriptions of the evidentialist and causalist decision theory. I extend this framework to problems characterised by decision instability, and show that it cannot deliver a resolute answer under a plausible specification of the independence dynamics. I prove that there exists a robust method of determining whether the specification of the independence dynamics matters for all two-state, two-act problems whose payoff tables exhibit some basic mathematical relationships.
You can find the paper here.
You can find the paper here.
Rational Preference in Transformative Experiences
Synthese (2021)
L. A. Paul argues that some decisions are epistemically transformative in such a way that we cannot assign subjective value to the outcomes. She claims we cannot use traditional decision theory to make these decisions rationally. I argue that Paul fails to engage critically with traditional accounts of decision theory and, on closer inspection, it is not clear that her version of decision theory entails a tension between rational and authentic choice. Furthermore, if her contribution is instead to bring to light the importance of authenticity alongside rational decision-making, the definition she provides of authenticity in fact undermines her argument.
You can find the paper here. A more public-facing version of my thoughts on Transformative Experience is featured here, in a philosophy of science blog called the The Crow's Nest.
You can find the paper here. A more public-facing version of my thoughts on Transformative Experience is featured here, in a philosophy of science blog called the The Crow's Nest.
Book reviews
Review of The Mirror and the Mind: A History of Self-Recognition in the Human Sciences, by Katja Guenther
Quarterly Review of Biology (2023)
In The Mirror and the Mind, Katja Guenther traces the rich history of mirror experiments over the past 150 years. Clearly written and beautifully detailed, this book will be of interest to psychologists, neuroscientists and anthropologists at all levels of expertise interested in issues of self-recognition or misidentification between the self and other.
You can find the review here.
You can find the review here.
Papers under review
Drafts available on request
A commitment account of norm externalisation (under revision)
One of the distinctive features of moral norms is thought to be their externalised character. To say that a norm is externalised is to say that it is experienced as imposed on us from the outside and exacting a demand on all, regardless of their group. I offer a commitment account of the emergence of externalised norms that situates their evolution as part of a coevolution of commitment and cooperation over human history.
Gossip as a commitment
Robin Dunbar has argued that gossip is that it is a means of social information-sharing in large groups. In this paper, I extend Dunbar’s work, providing an explanation of the proliferation of gossip which appeals to its immediate benefit to the sender of the gossip signal. At the same time as being a reputation-sharing mechanism, gossip constitutes a commitment to act in similar/dissimilar manner to the person about whom we gossip.
Realism, Anti-Realism and Normativity in Decision Theory
Some interpret the classic representation theorems of decision theory in an anti-realist way – subjective probabilities and utilities were not considered to be introspectable and so we turn to preference to determine rational choice. Others adopt a psychological realist stance toward probabilities and utilities. I argue that these differing interpretations have important consequences for the normative claim we take decision theory to be making.
Institutionalised commitment and the evolution of human prosociality
It has been argued that reputationally-enforced commitments were part of the explanation for human cooperation for much of our history. In this paper, I show how the advent of hierarchical societies and formal institutions following the Neolithic revolution introduced a new means of enforcement for commitments – institutionalised third-party punishment. I argue this was pivotal for the evolution of modern human prosociality.
Papers in preparation
Evolving Human Cumulative Culture
Though some animals exhibit cumulative cultural evolution, human cumulative cultural evolution is thought to be unique. Theorists often attribute this uniqueness to either human technical reasoning skills or to human social cognition. I argue such "magic bullet" accounts rely too much on developmental psychology and there is much to be gained from a evolutionary account that explores the historical conditions under which human cumulative cultural evolution emerged. I offer such an account.
The Evolution of Commitment (with Rory Smead)
We model how commitments might become evolutionarily stable as combination of pre-play signalling and indirect reciprocity in a sequential trust game. That is, pre-play signals and subsequent cooperation or defection can affect an agent's reputation which determines whether or not they are a desirable partner for future interaction. We examine under what conditions commitment results in evolutionarily stable cooperation.
Hunting, Alloparenting, and the Origins of Human Social Cognition
(with Richard Moore)
We explore the kinds of social cognition that emerged in response to the selective pressures of group hunting and alloparenting in the early humans. In particular, we question the line taken by many theorists that certain complex cognitive capacities, such as theory of mind, are necessary for eliciting and maintaining alloparental care.
Dissertation Research
The Coevolution of Commitment and Cooperation over Human History
Many explanations for the evolution of cooperation have been offered by biologists and anthropologists ranging from kin selection, group selection, reciprocal altruism and cultural evolution, among others. In my dissertation, I present a new hypothesis which draws our attention to a coevolutionary relationship in our history that has previously been overlooked -- the coevolution of commitment and cooperation. I show how different methods of undertaking commitments in our evolutionary history have enabled more sophisticated forms of cooperation over time which, in turn, create the selective environment for the evolution of increasingly effective commitments. I detail the emergence and consequences of four types of commitment: commitment in shared activity, linguistic commitment, moralised commitment, and institutionalised commitment.
You can find the dissertation here.
You can find the dissertation here.
Future Research
In future work in the philosophy of biology, I am interested in extending my research by (i) investigating the importance of ecological context in understanding how our theories of cooperation apply real-world organisms and their behaviours, (ii) identifying the explanatory limits of game-theoretic and mathematical modelling of the evolution of cooperation and; (iii) exploring the cognitive preconditions for cooperation, particularly in relation to cumulative culture. In decision theory, I am interested in adaptive preferences and their interaction with gender roles in society.
