Simon Fitzpatrick

Social interdependencies: the deep evolutionary roots of morality and normativity - Biology & Philosophy Biology & Philosophy - We propose that minimal morality (experiencing “ought-thoughts”) and minimal normativity (having expectations or “standards”) historically emerged...

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...

Book cover of “Temporal Cognition in Animals” by Angelica Kaufmann in the Cambridge Elements: The Philosophy of Biology series. Against a black background, the title is surrounded by Ernst Haeckel’s illustrations of marine organisms—radial, symmetrical forms in vivid blues, oranges, reds, and greens.

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...

Thanks for sharing, Steve!

Introduction to the special issue honoring Suzanne MacDonald: Truly comparative and incomparable - Learning & Behavior I am honored to have been asked to curate and introduce this special issue recognizing the vast contributions of Dr. Suzanne MacDonald, professor of psychology at York University, Toronto Ontario, Can...

This is for a special issue of L&B in honor of Suzanne MacDonald, edited by Jennifer Vonk link.springer.com/article/10.3...

Animal cultures matter for conservation, but also to animals - Learning & Behavior A growing acceptance that many nonhuman animal communities have distinct cultures – group-variable patterns of behavior and information sustained over time by social learning – is beginning to reshape...

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...

Animal cultures matter for conservation, but also to animals - Learning & Behavior A growing acceptance that many nonhuman animal communities have distinct cultures – group-variable patterns of behavior and information sustained over time by social learning – is beginning to reshape...

"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...

Nice, sounds awesome!

Capuchin monkeys caught abducting baby howlers On Panama’s Jicarón island, biologists documented five male capuchin monkeys carrying at least eleven different infant howler monkeys—a behavior never before seen in wild primates.

More philosophers need to write on this topic! Kristin and I have a paper on this hopefully coming out soon. Happy to share if interested... There's also the example of the capuchin monkey fad of stealing baby howler monkeys. www.mpg.de/24686977/050...

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/

An illustration of a white-faced capuchin monkey carrying a howler infant on their back while cracking nuts with a stone

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...

Signal traditions and cultural loss in chimpanzees Malherbe and colleagues provide evidence for cultural gestural dialects in four chimpanzee groups and document a unique case of cultural loss associated with anthropogenic pressure.

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

Bonobo Nyota at Ape Initiative, a science and education nonprofit

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/...

PAMBA Prize — PAMBA

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

Really been enjoying your (many!) recent papers, Laura. 👍

Normativity in Chimpanzees’ Tool Behavior - Topoi In this paper, I will argue that chimpanzees deploy some normative sensitivity when they select (i) materials they will use to manufacture tools and (ii) objects to be used as tools. To defend this cl...

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

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

Screenshot of the article "Killing in the Name of 3R?" The Ethics of Death in Animal Research by Persson, Rodriguez-Perez, Louis-Marten, Müller & Shaw (2025), Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics.

📣 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...

The Three Pillars of Ethical Research with Nonhuman Primates Cambridge Core - Developmental Psychology - The Three Pillars of Ethical Research with Nonhuman Primates

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!