DR. RACHAEL L. BROWN
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Dr. Rachael L. Brown

Philosopher of Biology
[email protected]
2025
  • July - International Society for History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Biology, Porto (Portugal)  "Sliding Doors in Evolution: Evolvability and Macroevolution"​​
  • June - Australia-New Zealand Philosophy of Biology Workshop "On a Par? Can Niche Construction be a True Cause of Evolutionary Change?"

2024
  • November - Philosophy of Science Association Bi-Annual Meeting, New Orleans (Poster)  "On a Par? Can Niche Construction be a True Cause of Evolutionary Change?"
  • November - Sydney HPS Research Day (Keynote). Is there a respectable broader notion of the Major Transitions?"
  • September - Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Lecture Series (online) "Smartphones: Part of the mind? Or parasites?"
  • August - 9th Annual Tsinghua Seminars for History and Philosophy of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. Evolution and Culture (5 seminar series)
  • August. SAPoLSN workshop "Evolution and Development, Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Philosophy, Beijing, China. Is there a respectable broader notion of the Major Transitions?
  • June - Australia-New Zealand Philosophy of Biology Meeting, Bundanoon, NSW. 50 Years of Philosophy of Biology: Where are we now?
  • ​April - Kinds of Minds Group Retreat, Kioloa, NSW. Exorcising Fishers Ghost. Gradualism in Evolutionary Psychology

2023
  • November - AAHPSSS Conference, Dyason Lecture. 50 Years of Philosophy of Biology: Where are we now?
  • November -AAHPSSS Conference.  Panel discussion on the future of HPS
  • November - Inaugural workshop of the Sino-Australian Philosophy of Life Sciences Network (University of Sydney): ​Cultural Canalisation
  • November - Rethinking scientific communication in courts workshop, ANU (College of Law). Unmasking values in Science: Beyond the myth of value-free enquiry
  • November - John Curtin School of Medical Research, ANU.  "Cracking the Code: Five Vital Steps to AEC Approval"
  • November - ROTO Lecture Series, Ruhr-University Bochum (online). "Is there a respectable broader notion of the Major Transitions?"
  • October. PhilBio Work-in-Progress Meeting, ANU. What is Philosophy of Biology?
  • September - DASSH Symposium on Peer Review in Social Science. Panel discussion
  • July - ISHPSSB Meeting, Toronto (online). "Major Transitions and Developmental Niche Construction"
  • July - Australasian Association of Philosophy Annual Meeting. "Smartphones: Part of the mind? Or parasites?"
  • June - Evolvability: A bridge between the proximate and ultimate? Workshop, ANU. "Evolvability and the Many Major Transitions"
  • June - AusNZ Philosophy of Biology Meeting, ANU. "Major Transitions and Developmental Niche Construction"
  • May - Director's Seminar, ANU (Research School of Biology). "Future of Evolutionary Sciences" (joint presentation)
  • May - Macquarie University Philosophy Departmental Seminar Series. "Smartphones: Part of the mind? Or parasites?"
  • May - Osteological Paradox Workshop, ANU (School of Archaeology & Anthropology). Title: "Should we be pessimists or optimists about our ability to know the past?"
  • April - ANU PhB Seminar Series, ANU (College of Humanities and Language). "Argument Mapping: One Way to Think Critically"
  • March - Major Transitions in Biology and Culture, Bristol University (online). "Is there a respectable broader notion of the Major Transitions?"
  • March - Major Transitions in Cognition Workshop, Macquarie University. "Evolvability and the Major Transitions"
2022
  • December - Australasian Evolutionary Science Meeting, ANU. "Cultural Canalisation: Robust inheritance beyond the germline"
  • December - AIMOS Interdisciplinary Meta-research & Open Science Conference, Melbourne. Workshop: "What role (if any) is there for values in science?"
  • November - Philosophy of Science Association Meeting, Pittbsurgh, USA. "Gradualism as a constraint on theorising in comparative and evolutionary psychology" (as part of symposium on "Revisiting Morgan’s Canon: Gradualism, Anthropomorphism, and Non-Human Cognition" with Grant Ramsey, Marta Halina, Benedik Aaby and Charles Beasley).
  • November -  University of San Diego, USA. Invited Research Seminar. Title: "Climate adaptation as evolvability." (co-authored presentation with Michael Weisberg and Chris Lean)
  • July - British Society for Philosophy of Science Annual Meeting, Exeter, UK. "Gradualism as a constraint on theorising in comparative and evolutionary psychology".
  • June - London School of Economics, UK. Invited Research Seminar.  "Between nature and culture: developing a third way for causal cognition" (co-authored paper presented with Ross Pain). 
  • June - New Perspectives on Causation in Biology Meeting, Kent, UK.  "Between nature and culture: developing a third way for causal cognition" (co-authored paper with Ross Pain). 
  • May- University of Melbourne, HPS Departmental Seminar Series. Invited Research Seminar. "Gradualism as a constraint on theorising in comparative and evolutionary psychology".
  • April - Biology and Morality Small Workshop, ANU. "Generating benefit: Social learning and the “other” cooperation problem."
  • February - Meeting of the Australian Society for Philosophy and Psychology (online presentation). "Mapping out the Landscape: A multidimensional approach to behavioural innovation" (as part of symposium on “Major Transitions in Cognitive Evolution with Andy Barron (Macquarie), Marta Halina (Cambridge) & Colin Klein (ANU)).
2021
  • November - Philosophy of Science Association Meeting, Baltimore (online presentation). Title: Mapping out the Landscape: A multidimensional approach to behavioural innovation (as part of a refereed session on “Major Transitions in Cognitive Evolution with Andy Barron (Macquarie), Marta Halina (Cambridge) & Colin Klein (ANU)).
  • September - University of Sydney Philosophy Departmental Seminar Series (online presentation), Title: Mapping out the Landscape: A multidimensional approach to behavioural innovation.
  • September - Ecology and Evolution Group, Research School of Biology, ANU, (online presentation), Title: A conversation on The Conversation.
  • April -  Australian National University, School of Philosophy Seminar Series, Title: Mapping out the Landscape: A multidimensional approach to behavioural innovation
  • February  – New Work in Cultural & Social Evolution Workshop, Centre for Philosophy of the Sciences, ANU. Title: Dialogue between an archaeologist and a philosopher (joint presentation with Catherine Freiman, Archaeology & Anthroplogy at ANU).

2020
  • December – AIMOS Interdisciplinary Meta-research & Open Science Conference, Online presentation. Title: Beyond Falsificationism: The Value of Contemporary Philosophy of Science to Metascience (workshop).
  • July  – College of Arts and Sciences Teaching and Learning Showcase, Online presentation. Title: Hello Out There: Reflections On Remote Teaching of a Large Discussion Based Class (invited presentation). Recording available HERE.

2019
  • December  – Future Evolutionary Science Forum, Australian Academy of Science, Shine Dome Canberra. Title: What Evolvability Really is (invited presentation).
  • November 2019 – Association for Interdisciplinary MetaResearch and Open Science Conference, University of Melbourne. Title: Why Philosophers and Scientists Should Work Together (invited presentation). Slides available HERE. Recording available HERE.

2018
  • August– Heyes’ Cognitive Gadgets, Author Meets Critics Workshop, ANU. Title: Culture v. Genetics: Constructing Cognitive Gadgets”.

2017
  • November  – AAHPSSS meeting, Wollongong. Discussant in graduate student careers symposium (invited presentation).
  • October – University of Melbourne HPS seminar series. Title: The cultural Canalisation of social cognition (with Richard Menary) (invited presentation).
  • September  – Cultural Evolution Society Meeting, Jena, Germany. Title: The cultural Canalisation of social cognition (with Richard Menary) (refereed presentation).
  • August – Design Principles for Evolvability Workshop, ANU. Title: Many Kinds of Reuse (invited presentation).
  • August – Philosophy of Biology at Dolphin Beach Workshop, Moruya NSW. Title: The Cultural Canalisation of Social Cognition (invited presentation).
  • April –University of Wollongong Philosophy Research Seminar Series. Title: Many Kinds of Re-use (invited presentation).

2016
  • September – Australasian Postgraduate Philosophy Conference, Canberra. Title “Getting Real About Evolutionary Plausibility”. (invited keynote presentation)
  • September – ANU School of Philosophy Departmental Seminar Series. Title: “Generating Benefit: Social Learning and the Other Cooperation Problem” (invited presentation).
  • August - Social Cognition and Cultural Evolution Workshop, The Centre for Agency, Values and Ethics (CAVE) and the ARC Centre for Cognition and its Disorders (CCD) at Macquarie University. Title: “Going One Step Further: Extending Heyes’ Account of Mindreading” (invited presentation).
  • August – Philosophy and Practice of Modelling Workshop, University of Sydney. Title: “The impact of reciprocal causation on modelling practice in behavioural ecology” (invited presentation)

2015
  • July– International Society for the History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Biology Bi-Annual Meeting in Montreal, Canada, Title  “What the Crow Cannot Do: Assessing the “Signature-Testing” Approach to Comparative Psychology”.
  • June – “Inheritance and Cooperation” conference, Balliol College, Oxford. Title: “Generating benefit: Social learning and the other cooperation problem” (invited presentation).
  • May –  University of Sydney, History and Philosophy of Science Departmental Seminar, TItle: Three Kinds of (Evolutionary) Structuralism (invited presentation)
  • March –  University of Sydney Philosophy Current Projects Seminar Series, Title: Social learning, groups and the generation of benefit (invited presentation)
  • March – Melbourne University, History and Philosophy of Science Seminar, Title:  Just-So Stories and Parsimony: Evolutionary Plausibility As Desiderata in Cognitive Science (invited presentation)
  • March –  Melbourne University Philosophy Departmental Seminar, Title: What can (and can’t) animal minds tell us about our own? (invited presentation)
  • March – Macquarie University Philosophy Lunchtime Seminar Series, Title: What can (and can’t) animal minds tell us about our own? (invited presentation)
  • February – “Understanding Complex Animal Cognition: An Interdisciplinary Workshop”, Macquarie University Centre for Agency, Values and Ethics. Title of paper: “Assessing the prospects of the bottom-up approach to comparative psychology.”

​OLDER PRESENTATIONS

  • November, 2014 – Presentation of paper at Australian National University School of Philosophy Thursday Seminar, Canberra. Title of paper: “Critiquing the Argument from Animals: A Reply to the Nativist Challenge.” (invited presentation)
  • December, 2014 – Presentation of paper at Australasian Society for Cognitive Science Conference, Monash University. Title of paper: “Critiquing the Argument from Animals: A Reply to the Nativist Challenge.”
  • August, 2014 – Presentation at Kevin Laland workshop at Macquarie University Centre for Agency, Values and Ethics. Title of paper:  “Impossible Cultures? Exploring the Applicability of Evo-Devo to Cultural Evolution.” (invited presentation)
  • July, 2014 – Australasian Association of Philosophy Conference, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia. Title of paper: “Just-So Stories and Parsimony: Evolutionary Plausibility As Desiderata in Cognitive Science.”
  • June, 2014 – Presentation for the Abhoueif Evolutionary Developmental Biology Lab Group, McGill University, Montreal, Canada. Title of paper: “Three Kinds of (Evolutionary) Structuralism.” (invited presentation)
  • June, 2014 – Society for Philosophy and Psychology Meeting, Vancouver, Canada. Presentation part of an invited symposium on the topic: “New Perspectives on Nativism and Empiricism” with Eric Margolis and Alison Gopnik. Title of paper: “Responding to the Nativist Challenge: A Critique of the Argument from Animals.” (invited presentation)
  • May, 2014 – Philosophy of Biology at Madison (POBAM) Workshop, University of Madison-Wisconsin, Madison, USA. Title of paper: “Three Kinds of (Evolutionary) Structuralism.” (refereed presentation)
  • May, 2014 – Rotman Institute of Philosophy, Western University, London, Canada. Title of Paper: “Responding to the Nativist Challenge: A Critique of the Argument from Animals.” (invited presentation)
  • May, 2104 – UPenn HPS Working Group Workshop, Philadelphia, USA. Title of Paper: “Evolutionary Plausibility as a Desiderata in Theory Choice in Cognitive Science.” (invited presentation)
  • May, 2014 – Leading meeting of GTA Animal Cognition Group, Toronto, Canada. Topic: “Evo-devo and the Evolution of Behaviour.” (invited presentation)
  • April, 2014 – Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research, Klosterneuburg, Austria. Title of paper: “Impossible Cultures? Exploring the Applicability of Evo-Devo to Cultural Evolution.” (invited presentation)
  • April, 2014 – Inter University Centre Dubrovnik Philosophy of Science Conference, Dubrovnik, Croatia. Title of paper: “Getting Serious About Evolutionary Plausibility In Cognitive Science.” (invited presentation)
  • November, 2013 – PGSA Colloquium Series, Western University, London, Canada. Title: “Three Kinds of Structuralism.”
  • August, 2013 – 7th Philosophy of Biology at Dolphin Beach Workshop, Moruya, Australia. Title: “Three Kinds of Structuralism.” (invited presentation)
  • July, 2013 – International Society for the History Philosophy and Social Studies of Biology Meeting, Montpellier, France. Title: “Simple Learning Systems and Evolvability: Why Culture Isn’t All That Matters.”
  • July, 2013 – International Society for the History Philosophy and Social Studies of Biology Meeting, Montpellier, France. Commentary on Ferrario and Di Paolo ” As Far As I Know: Social Learning and Available Information.” (invited presentation)
  • July, 2013 – British Society for the Philosophy of Science Annual Conference, Exeter, UK. Title: “Learning and The Evolution of Evolvability.”
































































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  • About Me
  • CV
  • Research
  • Presentations
  • The P-Value Podcast
  • Public Philosophy