Come work with us! Paul Griffiths, David Raubnheimer, and I are hiring a three-year Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Philosophy of Biology at Macquarie University, working at the intersection of Philosophy of Biology, evolutionary medicine, and theoretical biology.
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).
My recent book AI and Consciousness: A Skeptical Overview is free online today and tomorrow (through Oct 19, presumably UK time). I don't think the hard copy is available yet. Get it while it's free! www.cambridge.org/core/element...
AI and Consciousness
Cambridge Core - Philosophy: General Interest - AI and Consciousness
cambridge.org
Víctor Fernández Castro & Miguel Núñez de Prado-Gordillo explore the intersection between affective fictionalism and the neurodiversity movement doi.org/10.1080/0951... #philsky
Spencer Knafelc suggests that therapists and patients adopt ways of thinking and speaking that are amenable to a fictionalist interpretation. doi.org/10.1080/0951... #philsky
Stacie Friend & Kris Goffin argue that although chatbot-fictionalism offers insights into human-AI interaction, it does not resolve the ethical concerns. doi.org/10.1080/0951... Open access. #philsky
Marco Facchin maintains that the real existence of extended propositional attitudes is not just compatible with Toon’s fictionalism, but also able to bolster its explanatory power doi.org/10.1080/0951... #philsky
Michael D. Kirchhoff argues that discourse about mental representation fails to be genuinely explanatory. doi.org/10.1080/0951... Open access. #philsky
Gavin Robert Foster provides an overview of the evidence from comparative and developmental psychology that is inconsistent with mental fictionalism. doi.org/10.1080/0951... Open access. #philsky
Uku Tooming examines the prospects of hermeneutic mental fictionalism as a descriptive account of folk commitments regarding mental state discourse doi.org/10.1080/0951... #philsky
"Even if people do not literally have beliefs and desires, it is useful (perhaps even inevitable) for us to talk as if they do." Tamás Demeter & @adamtoonphilos.bsky.social introduce a special issue on mental fictionalism. #Psychology #PhilSky
Philosophical Psychology@journalphp.bsky.social · 4w agoNew issue, new thread! Adam Toon and Tamás Demeter present "As If We Had Minds: The Prospects of Mental Fictionalism", with sixteen papers (nine are open or free access). Follow the thread to learn more! www.tandfonline.com/... #philsky
Roger Christan Schriner presents a non-fictional way to solve puzzles about qualitative experiences, through a limited, non-eliminativist form of illusionism. doi.org/10.1080/0951... Open access. #philsky
Agata Machcewicz-Grad discusses a hybrid view of beliefs developed by Tim Crane and Katalin Farkas, which combines a fictionalist treatment of standing beliefs with a realist account of occurrent judgments. doi.org/10.1080/0951... Open access #philsky
🌊 'At Sea About Ourselves' Tim Crane spoke to The Heart of the Public about formation, reading and AI. 'Education is in crisis. And it’s not just because students aren’t writing anymore. (...)they’re not reading(...)They’re not reading anything.' Read it here: buff.ly/vcLmLbZ #AI #philsky
At Sea About Ourselves
Philosopher Tim Crane on reading, formation, and why we can't say what AI is until we can say what a human is
buff.ly
Bruno Mölder argues that there is still no satisfactory response to the cognitive collapse objection to mental fictionalism doi.org/10.1080/0951.... Free access for three months. #philsky
Ross Pain develops a methodological distinction between two approaches to the study of the mind, which he calls the philosophy-first view and the science-first view. doi.org/10.1080/0951... Open access. #philsky
Joseph Gough offers a genealogy of the concept of mind and reconstructs some of the arguments that the concept is harmful, rather than useful, for our understanding of ourselves and the world. doi.org/10.1080/0951... Open access. #philsky
Mental fictionalism and the dangers of Cartesian apologia
Toon (2023) argues that “the mind is a useful fiction.” The mind, for Toon, is essentially an “inner world” or “inner grotto,” which is “private” and which “houses our mental states – our beliefs, ...
doi.org
Nathanial Blower compares Adam Toon’s pretense-theoretic mental fictionalism with Wittgenstein’s philosophy of mind, interpreted therapeutically doi.org/10.1080/0951... #philsky
Felipe Morales Carbonell examines the prospects of applying Rylean ideas about fiction to mental fictionalism doi.org/10.1080/0951... #philsky
New issue, new thread! Adam Toon and Tamás Demeter present "As If We Had Minds: The Prospects of Mental Fictionalism", with sixteen papers (nine are open or free access). Follow the thread to learn more! www.tandfonline.com/... #philsky
As If We Had Minds: The Prospects of Mental Fictionalism
Explore the article collection: As If We Had Minds: The Prospects of Mental Fictionalism. Published in Philosophical Psychology.
tandfonline.com
🚨 Available for another two weeks ONLY! 🚨 Get your FREE copy while stocks last!
Adam Toon@adamtoonphilos.bsky.social · last mo.📚 Our Cambridge Element on Mental Fictionalism is out now and available free until 19th October! 📚 Download it here: doi.org/10.1017/9781... @keithfrankish.com @universitypress.cambridge.org #philsky #philmind #philpsy #cogsci
Director of research, Tim Crane, presents his claims that AI is not conscious and never can be at the CEU Department of Philosophy's colloquium next week. Join Us! #philsky #colloquium #AI #consciousness
CEU Philosophy Department@ceu-philosophy.bsky.social · last mo.Philosophy Colloquium! What is the Question about AI Consciousness? With Tim Crane. Come and listen as Tim Crane claims, in opposition to many philosophers and AI scientists, that today’s AI is not conscious, and can never be. Join us! 📅 Oct 6 ⏰️ 15:40 📍CEU buff.ly/qx5VzI9 #philsky #philevent
📚 Our Cambridge Element on Mental Fictionalism is out now and available free until 19th October! 📚 Download it here: doi.org/10.1017/9781... @keithfrankish.com @universitypress.cambridge.org #philsky #philmind #philpsy #cogsci
Mind and Language has published a symposium on my book Deflating Mental Representation (MIT Press, open access) with excellent commentary by Ken Aizawa kenaizawa.bsky.social, Angela Mendelovici braininavat4eva.bsky.social, and Adam Toon adamtoonphilos.bsky.social, and a reply by me, all open access.
Mind & Language
Click on the title to browse this journal
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
It was a pleasure to contribute to this symposium in Mind & Language on Frances Egan's wonderful book, Deflating mental representation (MIT, 2025). My paper on "Deflationism, realism and fictionalism" is Open Access: dx.doi.org/10.1111/mila... @francesegan.bsky.social @kenaizawa.bsky.social #philsky
Deflationism, realism, and fictionalism
Frances Egan's Deflating mental representation gives a forceful defence of deflationism about mental representation. Deflationism is a form of selective realism: It is realist about vehicles of menta....
dx.doi.org
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...
Sign the Petition
Save the Humanities at the University of Hertfordshire
change.org