Adam Toon
@adamtoonphilos.bsky.social
Director of Egenis, the Centre for the Study of Life Sciences. Associate Professor of Philosophy, University of Exeter. Author of Mind as Metaphor (OUP, 2023) and Models as Make-Believe (Palgrave, 2012).
The large capitalist now swims in wealth, whose proper use he has not been taught and does not know. Through his wealth, he has gained power. His wealth and his power blind his reason; and when he oppresses altogether grievously, he believes he is bestowing favours."
Daniel Dennett's influence on modern philosophy cannot be overstated. Today, in his honour, Lisa Bortolotti presents a special issue of Philosophical Psychology dedicated to the legacy of his philosophy. #philsky imperfectcognitions....
I signed the “Save the Humanities at the University of Hertfordshire” petition because this issue matters to me, and I’d love to help it reach 5,000 signatures. If it matters to you too, you can read and sign below ️️✍️ Thanks for your support! www.change.org/p/save-the-h...
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Save the Humanities at the University of Hertfordshire
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Latest papers: Víctor Fernández Castro & Miguel Núñez de Prado-Gordillo explore the intersection between fictionalism and the neurodiversity movement doi.org/10.1080/0951... #philsky #philpsy
Latest papers: Nathanial Blower compare’s Adam Toon’s pretense-theoretic mental fictionalism with Wittgenstein’s philosophy of mind doi.org/10.1080/0951... #philsky #philpsy
Melinda Gülsüm Esen’s review of Adam Toon’s Mind and Metaphor is now free access doi.org/10.1080/0951... #philsky #philsci @adamtoonphilos.bsky.social
Mental fictionalism: a new approach to understanding the nature of the mind
Published in Philosophical Psychology (Vol. 39, No. 3, 2026)
doi.org
My CUP Element on "Wittgenstein and Relativism" can now be downloaded for free. I hope some of you will find it interesting. www.cambridge.org/core/element... #philosophy #Wittgenstein #relativism
Wittgenstein and Relativism
Cambridge Core - Philosophy: General Interest - Wittgenstein and Relativism
cambridge.org
New from the BJPS Review of Books The Units of Life – Ellen Clarke Reviewed by John Dupré www.thebsps.org/reviewofbook... #phisci #hpbio #philsky
Ellen Clarke, The Units of Life | BJPS Review of Books
John Dupré reviews The Units of Life, by Ellen Clarke
thebsps.org
Cambridge Department of History and Philosophy of Science are now on Bluesky! 🔭📚 @hpscambridge.bsky.social
Sounding another Egenis job klaxon! My excellent colleague Stefan Guttinger is looking for a #philsci postdoc to think through #AI agents and trustworthy knowledge in the biosciences. 4 year post! #HPS #STS
Prof. Elaine Chalus@profelainechalus.bsky.social · 4mo agoPostdoctoral Research Associate/Fellow University of Exeter - Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences #skystorians 🗃️www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DRD641/p...
May I interest you in £10k for humanities or social science research? Our small grants scheme is open. Apply by 3rd June. We allocate through partial randomisation - awarding randomly between all applications that meet our quality threshold www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/funding/sche...
British Academy/Leverhulme Small Research Grants
The British Academy/Leverhulme Small Research Grants are available to support primary research in the humanities and social sciences. These awards, up to £10,000 in value and tenable for up to 24 mont...
thebritishacademy.ac.uk
Very exciting new issue published today! It contains a special issue on the philosophy of Daniel Dennett (Dennett's Powerful Ideas) and a symposium on Adam Toon's book, "Mind as Metaphor" #vol39issue3 Enjoy! www.tandfonline.com/...
And to end the symposium, Melinda Gülsüm Esen reviews the book! doi.org/10.1080/0951... #vol39issue3 #newbooks #philsky #philpsy #booksky 9/9
Adam Toon responds to his critics! A further defence of fictionalism about mental states doi.org/10.1080/0951... #vol38issue3 #philsky #philpsy 8/9
(Still) defending mental fictionalism: A response to commentaries on Mind as Metaphor
This paper responds to commentaries on Mind as Metaphor by Craig Bourne and Emily Caddick Bourne, Tamás Demeter, László Kocsis and Krisztián Pete, Zoe Drayson, M. Jimena Clavel Vázquez, and Kendall...
doi.org
Zoe Drayson explores the motivation for #fictionalism about the mental, arguing that Toon’s positive argument seems to ontologically commit him to the types of mental states he is trying to deny doi.org/10.1080/0951... #vol38issue3 #philsky #philpsy 7/9
What motivates mental fictionalism?
Mental fictionalists propose that we should continue to engage in truth-conditional discourse about the mind, even though we have reason to believe that the discourse lacks truthmakers. In Mind As ...
doi.org
Kendall L. Walton asks whether fictionalism is just #behaviourism in his commentary: doi.org/10.1080/0951... #vol39issue3 #philsky #philpsy 6/9
M. Jimena Clavel Vázquez argues that we can articulate the fictionalist proposal in terms of collective #imagination understood as a shared or collective practice sedimented in habits and behaviours doi.org/10.1080/0951... #vol39issue3 #philsky #philpsy 5/9
Tamás Demeter, László Kocsis & Krisztián Pete aim to show that representationally essential #metaphors are incompatible with genuine causal #explanation doi.org/10.1080/0951... #vol38issue3 #philsky #philpsy 4/9
Craig Bourne & Emily Caddick Bourne offer the first commentary, where they develop David Lewis’s notion of a quasi-miracle to suggest an alternative form of #fictionalism to Toon's doi.org/10.1080/0951... #vol39issue3 #philsky #philpsy 3/9
Next, Adam Toon presents the main themes of his book, Mind as Metaphor, in a precis: doi.org/10.1080/0951... #vol39issue3 #philsky #philpsy 2/9
Defending mental fictionalism: A précis of Mind as Metaphor
Mind as Metaphor develops a new approach to the mind. This approach is called mental fictionalism. It claims that our concept of mind is fundamentally metaphorical: we project the “outer world” of ...
doi.org
Is the #mind just a metaphor? Dive into our new book symposium with this thread for #vol39issue3! Start with Kathleen Murphy-Hollies and Lisa Bortolotti's editorial doi.org/10.1080/0951... free access #vol39issue3 #philsky #philpsy 1/9
I am extremely grateful to @lisabortolotti.com and @kmurphyhollies.bsky.social for organising this symposium and to the fantastic contributors: Craig Bourne, Emily Caddick Bourne, Tamás Demeter, @zoedrayson.bsky.social, László Kocsis, Krisztián Pete, M. Jimena Clavel Vázquez, and Kendall L. Walton
Philosophical Psychology@journalphp.bsky.social · 4mo agoVery exciting new issue published today! It contains a special issue on the philosophy of Daniel Dennett (Dennett's Powerful Ideas) and a symposium on Adam Toon's book, "Mind as Metaphor" #vol39issue3 Enjoy! www.tandfonline.com/...
Latest papers: Bruno Mölder argues that there is still no satisfactory response to the cognitive collapse objection to mental fictionalism doi.org/10.1080/0951... #philsky #philpsy
I'm delighted that @journalphp.bsky.social is the home of this paper, born out of the long-standing & extremely fruitful collaboration between @keithfrankish.com & Daniel Dennett. Open access! doi.org/10.1080/0951... #philsky #philpsy (soon to appear in our special issue on Dennett's Powerful Ideas)
The Emancipation of the drone: A Dennettian thought experiment
This paper presents an extended thought experiment conducted by Daniel Dennett and the author as a way of exploring how consciousness might develop without a central “Cartesian Theater.” The starti...
doi.org
🎄Festive news in mental fictionalism!🎄 More fantastic contributions for our special issue of Philosophical Psychology. First: Krzysztof Poslajko on "How to be a fictionalist about corporate mentality" doi.org/10.1080/0951... @kposlajko.bsky.social @journalphp.bsky.social #philsky #philmind #cogsci
How to be a fictionalist about corporate mentality
The aim of this paper is to present a plausible exposition of the broadly fictionalist intuitions that are often expressed in legal theory and economics regarding the attributions of mental states ...
doi.org
Adam Toon@adamtoonphilos.bsky.social · 11mo agoLatest news in mental fictionalism! Three more excellent contributions to our special issue of Philosophical Psychology. First: Agata Machcewicz-Grad discusses Tim Crane and Katalin Farkas' hybrid view of beliefs: doi.org/10.1080/0951... @timcrane.bsky.social #philsky #philmind #cogsci
Latest papers: Gavin Robert Foster offers an ontogenetic challenge to mental fictionalism in this open access paper doi.org/10.1080/0951... #philsky #philpsy
Reminder: Professor Michael Winter’s Distinguished Lecture 17.12.25 @crpr-exeter.bsky.social: Whatever happened to the Political Economy of Agriculture? Hybrid: Queen’s building, LT1 - 10:15-12:15 or online. Registration is via Eventbrite (bit.ly/3KDpFPu ). Any questions: crpr@exeter.ac.uk.
A nice story for a change as a wild beaver been discovered in Norfolk.
‘No one knows where it came from’: first wild beaver spotted in Norfolk for 400 years
Cameras capture lone creature collecting materials for its lodge in riverside nature reserve
theguardian.com
Hello Bluesky! The Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences at @exeter.ac.uk is excited to be here and we are ready to connect! Follow us to read about all the amazing things our HASS community is getting up to 💚 #exeterforever
