Sign in

Ali Boyle

@aliboyle.bsky.social
953 followers 849 following 39 posts

Philosopher of science. Thinking about nonhuman minds, memory, living things. Cat person.

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Ali Boyle
Susana Monsó @susanamonso.com · 07/09/2026
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!
ecologicalvalidity.wordpress.com
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 …
37765
Reposted by Ali Boyle
Anna Alexandrova @annaalexandrova.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Losing Exeter philosophers of science would be devastating to our field and to the international standing of U.K. universities. Please help us publicise this letter and put pressure to the Exeter execs. Their work as teachers and researchers is irreplaceable #philsci #HigherEd
19567
Reposted by Ali Boyle
British Society for the Philosophy of Science @thebsps.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
We have published an open letter to the University of Exeter Executive Board expressing our concerns about proposed redundancies. Read it here: www.thebsps.org/news/open-le...
thebsps.org
Open Letter to University of Exeter Executive Board regarding proposed redundancies
- BSPS
07543
Reposted by Ali Boyle
lastpositivist.bsky.social @lastpositivist.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
LSE student Rebecca Dreier wins this year's Philosophy of Memory prize for her now forthcoming article "The deep connections between consciousness and 'episodic-like' memory in animals". Her work is generally excellent but I ain't read this one yet, so I'm looking forward! phil-mem.org/prize.php
phil-mem.org
Centre for Philosophy of Memory
Centre for Philosophy of Memory, Centre de philosophie de la mémoire
0395
Reposted by Ali Boyle
Tomer Ullman @tomerullman.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
"I used an LLM to help me write, but it was just to polish the style and grammar" is something you've probably come across, or done yourself. Many conferences and journals and teachers are ok with this. But does it...? Just focus on the style and grammar...?
45012
Reposted by Ali Boyle
Shiv Ramdas Mens Rice Activist @nameshiv.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
death is so so weird one minute they were there all the time the next they're just not but everything else looks the same and you spend half your time wondering if you're crazy and imagined them being there all along
60113049
Ali Boyle @aliboyle.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Bad day to be an LSE philosopher
3121
Reposted by Ali Boyle
Aidan McGlynn @aidanmcglynn.bsky.social · 10/12/2024
A version of the 'distracted boyfriend' meme but where his girlfriend has been replaced by someone in a gorilla suit, and the girl he's looking at's head has been replaced by a basketball
410821
Reposted by Ali Boyle
Richard Moore @richardmoore.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
Some dates for your diary: My research group will host the next PAMBA bi-annual meeting at @philoswarwick.bsky.social on April 27th-29th next year. Additionally, @giuliapalazzolo.bsky.social will host a one day one workshop on animal/evolutionary syntax at Warwick on April 26th next year.
2113
Reposted by Ali Boyle
Philosophy of Animal Minds and Behavior Association @pamba.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
Wondering when the next Philosophy of Animal Minds and Behavior Association meeting will be? PAMBA 2027 will be at the University of Warwick on April 27-29, 2027. Confirmed keynotes: Steve Butterfill, Marta Halina, Susana Monsó @martahalina.bsky.social @susanamonso.com Stay tuned for CFP!
12717
Reposted by Ali Boyle
Alex Blechman @alexblechman.bsky.social · 18/04/2026
It’s inaccurate to say Mario is brave and Luigi is cowardly Luigi is afraid of death, so he runs away from danger. Mario is afraid of living, so he runs towards death. Both brothers are cowards in their own way
96155273054
Reposted by Ali Boyle
Chris Krupenye @chriskrupenye.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
Can chimpanzees prepare for mutually exclusive possibilities individually or collectively? Check out our new paper in Phil Trans @royalsociety.org, led by @drelizabethwarren.bsky.social, and funded by @templetonworld.bsky.social! And stay tuned for the next paper, clarifying the mechanism!
02714
Reposted by Ali Boyle
Materialist Gnostic @walmsley.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
Plato tells us that there is but one Jason Statham movie, which we perceive as many due to our inability to access true knowledge in the realm of the forms
635878
Ali Boyle @aliboyle.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
Once had a masters student tell me, apparently concerned, that they were the only one in their cohort not applying for PhDs. I said, attempting to make them feel better, 'well, it's not all it's cracked up to be'. They snorted derisively and said 'it's not cracked up to be much'.
050
Reposted by Ali Boyle
Nikhil Venkatesh @nikvenkatesh.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
Harriet Taylor Mill officially recognised as co-author of 'On Liberty'! dailynous.com/2026/03/19/o...
dailynous.com
“On Liberty” Now Officially Has Two Authors - Daily Nous
An edition of On Liberty published this month is the first to officially name Harriet Taylor Mill as a co-author alongside John Stuart Mill. The new volume is edited by Piers Norris Turner (Ohio State...
11828286
Reposted by Ali Boyle
Angela Cassidy @angecass.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
*pinches bridge of nose* #ohgodsherewegoagain #animalstudies #STS #scicomm #histSTM link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...
link.springer.com
Building a Public Controversy
This chapter will focus on the interaction between ‘backstage’ policy debates over badger/bTB and the increasingly noisy and visible ‘frontstage’ of the controversy. It will re...
031
Reposted by Ali Boyle
lastpositivist.bsky.social @lastpositivist.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
Wallace and Gromit: The Wrong Trousers is very good, actually.
12897
Ali Boyle @aliboyle.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
Wow.
020
Reposted by Ali Boyle
Rebecca Buxton @rebeccabuxton.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
FULLY FUNDED PHDs IN POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY I'm looking for *two* PhD students to join my ERC project on refugee-led approaches to displacement justice. The positions are funded for four years, and you get to join our lovely community in Bristol. Please share widely! philjobs.org/job/show/30997
philjobs.org
PhD in Political and Social Philosophy, University of Bristol - PhilJobs:JFP PhD in Political and Social Philosophy, University of Bristol
An international database of jobs for philosophers
1121129
Reposted by Ali Boyle
LSE Philosophy @lsephilosophy.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
⚛️ Do molecules have structure? Yesterday, @vanessaseifert.bsky.social and Alexander Franklin delivered the BSPS Popper Prize lecture and talked about their award winning research. 📹 Lecture recording: www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1Sa... #PhilSci @aliboyle.bsky.social @thebsps.bsky.social
1165
Reposted by Ali Boyle
LSE Philosophy @lsephilosophy.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
⏰ Next week! @aliboyle.bsky.social @thebsps.bsky.social @vanessaseifert.bsky.social #PhilSci #Philosophy #Popper
02111
Reposted by Ali Boyle
Susana Monsó @susanamonso.com · 03/02/2025
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
philsci-archive.pitt.edu
Animal medicine - PhilSci-Archive
611532
Reposted by Ali Boyle
Kristin Andrews 🇨🇦🇺🇸 @kristinandrews.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
www.nbcnews.com/science/scie...
nbcnews.com
A bonobo tea party: Study shows humans aren't the only species that can pretend
Researchers offered a bonobo named Kanzi imaginary juice and grapes, presenting the tests as a kind of make-believe tea party. Kanzi could play along, they found.
0206
Ali Boyle @aliboyle.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
If there was any justice in the world, tennis elbow would be more commonly known as knitter’s elbow. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
0171
Reposted by Ali Boyle
Nora Bradford @norabradford.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
hey scientists, have you seen a cool paper recently that didn't get enough attention? let me know! I'm always looking for new studies to cover and would love to hear from you👇
43318
Reposted by Ali Boyle
Uncle Duke @uncleduke1969.bsky.social · 28/12/2025
David Attenborough [whispering]: “Like a grain of sand in a vast desert, the predator blends seamlessly into its environment, nearly imperceptible to the naked eye.”
The top half of a cat is concealed behind a gold curtain, its bottom half exposed.
307139082237
Reposted by Ali Boyle
Helen Macdonald @hjm.bsky.social · 15/12/2025
Send help have become trapped by this AI animal alphabet source: www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinfu...
An AI-generated animal alphabet of such intense wrongness (e.g. “O is penguin” by an image of a quail) that it achieves something like sublimity
1712332
Reposted by Ali Boyle
Ali Boyle @aliboyle.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
I once had an anaesthesiologist reply ‘nothing philosophical about this [anaesthesia]; it’s pure science’. Sadly he said this just as he was giving me a general anaesthetic, so I only got as far as ‘um, actually -‘ before losing consciousness. When I came to he was nowhere to be seen, the coward.
2344
Reposted by Ali Boyle
alix e. harrow @alixeharrow.bsky.social · 14/12/2025
my favorite thing about the benoit blanc movies is that they aren't really about benoit blanc. he is not grappling with demons from his past. we are not getting flashbacks to the husband whose murder he never solved. he just shows up and does his job like mary poppins for homicides
125113172122
Reposted by Ali Boyle
Kit @ascolotl.bsky.social · 13/12/2025
Learned today that “Galápagos” comes from a Spanish word for tortoise, meaning that “Galápagos Tortoise” is, in fact, a tortology
522670729
Reposted by Ali Boyle
profchander @profchander.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
me to grad students: share your work with each other, talk, exchange ideas! me to me: no one can ever see this draft it's garbage and they'll think i'm garbage and then i'll have to move into a dumpster where i belong
525139
Reposted by Ali Boyle
Doudja B @doudjabmz.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
Loved the @manymindspod.bsky.social on the function of memory, with @aliboyle.bsky.social and @jomahr.bsky.social. Highly recommended if you didn't listen to it (yet)!
182
Reposted by Ali Boyle
Diego Morales @dmoralesp.bsky.social · 09/12/2025
As usual, I am late to the party, but I just finished listening to the fantastic episode on episodic memory from @manymindspod.bsky.social. Super informative interview to @aliboyle.bsky.social and @jomahr.bsky.social by @kensycoop.bsky.social. Cheers to the Many Minds Team! Highly recommend!
Episode on episodic memory. Another banger from the Many Minds Podcast.
1133
Reposted by Ali Boyle
Jeff Sebo @jeffsebo.bsky.social · 03/12/2025
the moral circle is now available in paperback for the low price of $12! an excellent holiday gift for all the near-future insect and AI welfare advocates in your life :)
0153
Reposted by Ali Boyle
Grumpy Philosopher @stevecooke.org · 03/12/2025
If you‘re in London on the 11th December, there’s a great event exploring the role of photography in building empathy towards nonhuman animals. I can really recommend events at this venue, it’s a wonderful space: www.kairos.london/event/why-lo...
kairos.london
Why Look at Animals? with Jo-Anne McArthur and Zed Nelson - Kairos
Thursday December 11th, 6.30 for 7pm How can contemporary photography, by focussing on our broken bonds with animals and the rest of the natural world, help drive a paradigm shift in our priorities an...
0128
Reposted by Ali Boyle
Chris Krupenye @chriskrupenye.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
🚨Job Alert plz RT! Johns Hopkins Psych & Brain Sciences is looking for a new colleague using behavioral or computational approaches to study cognition! We are excited about many areas of (esp higher) cognition in human adults, children, or nonhuman animals Open-rank apply.interfolio.com/178146
05474
Reposted by Ali Boyle
Many Minds podcast @manymindspod.bsky.social · 01/12/2025
The sound of your uncle's laugh; an ice cream cone you had ten years ago. Why do we hold on to memories like these? Are they more than mere mental clutter? Just one of the topics discussed in our latest episode, w/ @aliboyle.bsky.social & @jomahr.bsky.social! Listen: disi.org/what-is-memo...
02411
Reposted by Ali Boyle
Phillip Maciak @pjmaciak.bsky.social · 28/11/2025
If you loved THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE, then you'll love its action-packed sequel, PRINCE CASPIAN! The Pevensie children are back, even Edmund, but what about all your favorite friends: Mr. Tumnus, the Beavers, the friendly giant? Well, they've been dead for a thousand years. Sorry.
1167374
Reposted by Ali Boyle
Odd This Day @oddthisday.bsky.social · 28/11/2025
To begin with today, happy 117th anniversary to this entirely reasonable cat
Article from Des Moines Register 27 November 1908: NO BEER; CAT LEAVES TOWN
Feline Deserts Connecticut Village That Went "Dry."
WINSTED, Conn., Nov. 28. Fannie, a cat owned by Barreuther Bros., had liking for lager beer. When the town recently voted "dry" her owners went out of business and Fannie missed her drink. For some days she went to her saucer and cried for beer, but as none was forthcoming she disappeared. It is suspected she has gone to the nearest license town.
6633174
Reposted by Ali Boyle
RSPB @rspb.bsky.social · 28/11/2025
"You seem happier" Thanks, I deleted all my emails and went to look at birds instead.
954997
Reposted by Ali Boyle
Tim Crane @timcrane.bsky.social · 28/11/2025
Years ago I sent a review to the editor of a leading journal, very late. I apologised, maybe a bit too profusely. He replied (apparently in all seriousness) ‘it’s ok. We’ve all done things we are ashamed of.’ I often think of this when I need a good laugh.
0715
Reposted by Ali Boyle
BeijingPalmer @beijingpalmer.bsky.social · 25/11/2025
oh Americans may not understand this, but a 'magistrate' in the UK is a local volunteer with typically no legal background. But it's ok, they receive about 10 days of training. And now they can send you to jail for two years without a jury!
26641145
Reposted by Ali Boyle
Katarina Hunt @katarinahunt.bsky.social · 18/11/2025
Whomst among us hasn't felt a little vacuum about snackie all done
6566781792
Reposted by Ali Boyle
lastpositivist.bsky.social @lastpositivist.bsky.social · 26/11/2025
My student Arlene Lo has a paper on the philosophical underpinnings of Canada's attempts to integrate Indigenous groups into its environmental impact assessments. It's now out in (appropriately enough!) the Canadian journal of philosophy. It's good, check it out! www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Anti-Colonial Science? The Politics of Indigenous Knowledge Inclusion in Science-Based Policy


Arlene Lo


An aspect of the Indigenous struggle against colonial oppression is the struggle for the inclusion of their knowledge in policymaking. Perceived as epistemically inferior to science, Indigenous knowledge and subsequently interests are systematically excluded in science-based policy. This article advances an anti-colonial political philosophy of science. As Indigenous knowledge feeds into the necessary political value judgements in policy-relevant science, Indigenous knowledge inclusion, I contend, should be treated as a political, not solely epistemic, matter. I further argue that Indigenous peoples, not just scientists, should have the power to make such political value judgements given the politics of representation under coloniality.
35511
Reposted by Ali Boyle
Many Minds podcast @manymindspod.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
New episode!! 🎉🎙️ A conversation with @aliboyle.bsky.social & @jomahr.bsky.social about the functions of memory. We may not immediately think of memory as an evolutionary puzzle. But in certain respects—and from certain angles—it is quite puzzling indeed. Listen: disi.org/what-is-memo...
1289
Reposted by Ali Boyle
Addy the Walnut @adrianics.bsky.social · 23/11/2025
This thread is utterly extraordinary. I both have a new respect for Home Alone and am laughing my ass off
0346
Reposted by Ali Boyle
My Password is Louvre @bmceuen.bsky.social · 23/11/2025
The wet bandits are Sisyphus and Kevin is their boulder
0203
Reposted by Ali Boyle
Aaron Cohen @unlikelywords.bsky.social · 23/11/2025
Gonna spend the entire month thinking about this philosophical discussion of Die Hard vs Home Alone.
1232