Susana Monsó

@susanamonso.com

She/her. Associate professor of philosophy at UNED, Madrid. Interested in all things animal. Author of Playing Possum: How Animals Understand Death. susanamonso.com [Profile pic: © Mel Guil]

Birders out there, I need your help! I have a pair of birds coming to feed at my window sill (in Madrid, Spain) and I can't figure out the species. They look very similar to sparrows, but with a more uniform ash colour, slightly bigger in size, and with a longer tail. Any clues?

I’ve just been named subject editor for the new “Animal ethics” area in the SEP, following my complaint that there are too few articles on this topic (serves me right for complaining). So stay tuned for new entries in the area, and hit me up with suggestions on topics that you think merit one!

AI everything has also forced us to have so many meetings, discussions, policies, and changes. LLMs have wasted more of my time than any other anything. How such a wasteful, annoying, product is being successfully marketed as one that saves time & creates efficiencies I will never know.

This is a real photo from 1913. It hasn’t been colorized. It was made using a technique called the Autochrome Lumière which captured true color using microscopic dyed starch grains as color filters, decades before color film existed. Pretty incredible, no? More below 👇

Bild

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.

Richard Moore@richardmoore.bsky.social · 3w ago

I have a new paper with @susanamonso.com and @kristinandrews.bsky.social. This one is intended to be a short guide for ECRs interested in doing some philosophy of comparative psychology, and wondering how to approach it. compass.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Excited to announce KINDRED -- first-hand stories about chimpanzees like Chiffon and Eli who opened my eyes to their inner worlds and inspired their protection. Endorsed by the late Dr. Jane Goodall. 🧵 (1/2)

two young chimpanzees face each other, touching hands, with green and brown grass in background

It's a traditionally neglected, but now rapidly growing, subfield of philosophy of science. I am currently writing a book on the philosophy of the geosciences that gives introduction, but in meantime I can recommend this survey paper by two members of my #PhiGeo research group

What is Philosophy of the Geosciences?

The philosophy of the geosciences is an emerging subfield in philosophy of science. Although past and present geoscientific disciplines differ substantially, we argue that they frequently face common...

compass.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Interested in doing a PhD in philosophy of animal minds in lovely Murcia? We have just published a call for expressions of interest to do a PhD as part of our research project on ecological validity in comparative cognitive science. Please consider applying if this is up your street!

Call for expressions of interest: PhD position

The Spanish Ministry for Science and Innovation is about to publish a call for pre-doctoral scholarships (FPI) adhered to scientific projects that have been approved for funding in 2026. We invite …

ecologicalvalidity.wordpress.com

A proposition to all analytic philosophers (and likeminded theorists): PSUAFE because IIVAFR and IMTWRDI. Where: PSUAFE = Please stop using acronyms for everything. IIVAFR = It is very annoying for readers. IMTWRDI = It makes them want to read Derrida instead.