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Mathilde Tahar

@drmathildetahar.bsky.social
3.7K followers 1.9K following 110 posts

Leverhulme Research fellow in Philosophy of Biology at UCL working on animal inventions. Animal behaviour, evolution, ecology. And chacma baboons 🐒 Also: I am a Bergson lover, dog lover, cat lover, and running addict. www.drmathildetahar.com

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Mathilde Tahar @drmathildetahar.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Second (and last) day of our @asab.org interdisciplinary workshop on Animal Agency is today ! If you want to join us online or in person, follow the link => www.animalinventiveness.com/post/interna...
animalinventiveness.com
International Interdisciplinary ASAB Workshop: AGENCY BETWEEN BIOLOGY AND PHILOSOPHY
We are delighted to invite you to our workshop, which marks the culmination of our seminar series on Agency between Biology and Philosophy.The workshop will take place on 22-23 September 2026 • in per...
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Florian Moullard @fmoullard.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Tomorrow at 9:30 AM, I’ll be defending some Dennettian ideas about agency in animal cognition for the project @animalinvention.bsky.social Informations online: www.animalinventiveness.com Many thanks to @drmathildetahar.bsky.social and Alecia Carter for this wonderful workshop program @ucl.ac.uk
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Mathilde Tahar @drmathildetahar.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Mon essai sur la place du temps en biologie et sur la complexité de la durée du vivant est sorti ! Ça parle de Bergson mais aussi des pollinisateurs et d’écologie, de théories bancales et des histoires complexes qui tissent les cultures animales. Il est en librairies, en bonne compagnie.
Book on bookshelf
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Mathilde Tahar @drmathildetahar.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
We are delighted to invite you to the interdisciplinary workshop of @animalinvention.bsky.social on Agency between Biology and Philosophy. It will take place at UCL and online on 22-23 September. All info and registration details can be found here: www.animalinventiveness.com/post/interna...
Agency between
Biology and Philosophy
22-23 September 2026
University College London, London, UK + online
Organisers: Mathilde Tahar & Alecia Carter
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Animal Inventiveness Research Project @animalinvention.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
The next session of our seminar is tomorrow! Christopher Joseph Gonzalez will talk about normative agency in nonhumans ! Info on how to join can be found here : www.animalinventiveness.com/post/seminar... We are looking forward to discussing this fascinating topic with you!
animalinventiveness.com
Seminar Agency between Biology and Philosophy 2025/2026
Here, you will find the 2025-2026 programme, and general information about our seminar. The introductory post can be found here.Next session10 June, 4.15 to 5.15 PM UK timeSession led by Christopher J...
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Mathilde Tahar @drmathildetahar.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
Hello everyone, The next session of our seminar on Agency between Biology and Philosophy will take place tomorrow 13th of May from 4 to 5 PM (UK time) on Zoom. This session on AI agency will be led by Leonard Dung. Feel free to join us :) www.animalinventiveness.com/post/seminar...
animalinventiveness.com
Seminar Agency between Biology and Philosophy 2025/2026
Here, you will find the 2025-2026 programme, and general information about our seminar. The introductory post can be found here.Next session13 May, 4 to 5 UK timeSession led by Leonard DungTitle: Dist...
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Mathilde Tahar @drmathildetahar.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
If you want to know more about Bergson, lucky you @emilyherring.bsky.social wrote an amazing book about him. But if you’re still hesitating whether you should put any time into reading about this French philosopher you barely the name of, you can read this short piece I wrote iep.utm.edu/bergson/
iep.utm.edu
Henri Bergson | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
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Mathilde Tahar @drmathildetahar.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
Le CNRS poursuit son projet d'agrandir son élevage de primates non humains. Le but est d'y élever au maximum 1 800 primates pour, à partir de 2032, en produire de 250 à 300 par an et les vendre aux laboratoires de recherche publics français à des fins d'expérimentations scientifiques.
lemonde.fr
« Les primates utilisés à des fins scientifiques sont généralement moins bien lotis que ceux des zoos ou des cirques »
TRIBUNE. Le projet du CNRS d’extension de l’élevage de primates à des fins d’expérimentation à Rousset, dans les Bouches-du-Rhône, va à l’encontre d’une trajectoire de réduction de l’utilisation de ce...
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Mathilde Tahar @drmathildetahar.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
Save the dates !!
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Mathilde Tahar @drmathildetahar.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
A year ago !!! « I am very happy to share this piece, exploring the link between inventiveness and play in our fellow nonhuman animals. It was written with care and a sincere desire to convey what science and philosophy can teach us about this fascinating topic. » aeon.co/essays/how-e...
Why the cat wags her tail
Here's a puzzle: how could evolution favour such a costly, frivolous and fun activity as animal play?
by Mathilde Tahar-Malaussena
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Mathilde Tahar @drmathildetahar.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
Hello everyone ! Our Agency Between Biology and Philosophy seminar is coming back ! I am very happy (and honoured) to say that Denis Walsh will be leading this session, on Ecological Agency. => Zoom => 8 April from 4 to 5 PM, UK time => how to join? Here: www.animalinventiveness.com/post/seminar...
Seminar Agency between Biology and
Philosophy 2025/2026
Here, you will find the 2025-2026 programme, and general information about our seminar.
The introductory post can be found here.
Next session
8th of April, 4 to 5 UK time
Session led by Denis Walsh
Topic: Ecological Agency: A metaphysics for Dialectical Biology
Join Zoom Meeting:
https://ucl.zoom.us/j/94845332305
Meeting ID: 948 4533 2305
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Mathilde Tahar @drmathildetahar.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
The next session of our transdisciplinary (biology-philosophy) seminar on Agency will take place this Wednesday on Zoom ! Hugh Desmond will talk about agency and cognitive capacities! More info on how to join us here: www.animalinventiveness.com/post/seminar...
animalinventiveness.com
Seminar Agency between Biology and Philosophy 2025/2026
Here, you will find the 2025-2026 programme, and general information about our seminar. The introductory post can be found here.ProgrammeThis year, we will meet each second Wednesday of each month, fr...
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Mathilde Tahar @drmathildetahar.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
The next session of our transdisciplinary (biology-philosophy) seminar on Agency will take place next Wednesday. Marek Špinka will talk about play in nonhuman animals, and I expect it to be super cool ! 😎 More info here : www.animalinventiveness.com/post/seminar...
animalinventiveness.com
Seminar Agency between Biology and Philosophy 2025/2026
Here, you will find the 2025-2026 programme, and general information about our seminar. The introductory post can be found here.ProgrammeThis year, we will meet each second Wednesday of each month, fr...
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Mathilde Tahar @drmathildetahar.bsky.social · 07/02/2026
À paraître cette année chez Vrin ! Le temps du vivant, discussion de Bergson à l’aune de l’histoire de la biologie et des découvertes contemporaines
Le temps du vivant; avec un texte d’Henri BergsonLe vivant. Les espèces évoluent; l'organisme vieillit;
nous parlons d'histoire naturelle comme de mémoire individuelle pour rendre compte de l'imprévisibilité des formes biologiques. Mais que signifie, pour le vivant, de durer ? La différence de l'inerte et du vivant se joue aussi et même surtout dans la distinction des modes de temporalisation. Le temps en biologie a en effet un sens qu'il n'a pas en physique : il est synonyme d'inventivité.
Durer, pour les espèces comme pour les individus, c'est en effet se transformer de façon singulière, dans des situations toujours uniques. Si la théorie de l'évolution a mis au premier plan la dimension historique du vivant et l'imprévisibilité de ses trajectoires, les conséquences pour la science qui l'étudie, dans ses objets comme dans ses méthodes, doivent encore être évaluées. L'enjeu n'est pas seulement théorique. Parce que la créativité du temps biologique passe par la diversité des rythmes
propres à chaque organisme, ce sont également nos pratiques et nos relations avec les autres vivants
qu'il convient de repenser.
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Mathilde Tahar @drmathildetahar.bsky.social · 13/01/2026
Tomorrow is the first session of the 2026 edition of our online seminar on animal agency! This session will be led by Lisa Yon and will explore ways to promote agency in captive animals (especially elephants!). 🐘 Hoping to see many of you! www.animalinventiveness.com/post/seminar...
animalinventiveness.com
Seminar Agency between Biology and Philosophy 2025/2026
Here, you will find the 2025-2026 programme, and general information about our seminar. The introductory post can be found here.ProgrammeThis year, we will meet each second Wednesday of each month, fr...
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André Gonçalves @fieryangelsfell.bsky.social · 09/12/2025
In 2024, my colleagues and I organized the @evothan symposium, bringing together experts in comparative thanatology from around the world. At the time, a French documentary team captured many of us in action: now available to watch here (w/ Eng subtitles): www.arte.tv/fr/videos/11... #animalgrief
arte.tv
Le chagrin des animaux : mythe ou réalité ? - Regarder le documentaire complet | ARTE
Que ressentent les animaux face à la mort de leurs congénères, et qu’en comprennent-ils ? À travers des exemples passionnants, une exploration d’un champ d’études en plein essor : la thanatologie anim...
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Mathilde Tahar @drmathildetahar.bsky.social · 09/12/2025
The next session of our online seminar is tomorrow !! Angie Pepper will be presenting, on the topic « A good life or their own life? Rethinking nonhuman animal interests in freedom ». Relevant information can be found here : www.animalinventiveness.com/post/seminar... You’re welcome to join!
animalinventiveness.com
Seminar Agency between Biology and Philosophy 2025/2026
Here, you will find the 2025-2026 programme, and general information about our seminar. The introductory post can be found here.ProgrammeThis year, we will meet each second Wednesday of each month, fr...
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Mathilde Tahar @drmathildetahar.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
Next session is tomorrow ! Come and join us to unveil the mystery of animal agency (or just try to make sense of the concept actually…)! Daria Zakharova will be presenting. www.animalinventiveness.com/post/seminar...
animalinventiveness.com
Seminar Agency between Biology and Philosophy 2025/2026
Here, you will find the 2025-2026 programme, and general information about our seminar. The introductory post can be found here.ProgrammeThis year, we will meet each second Wednesday of each month, fr...
041
Mathilde Tahar @drmathildetahar.bsky.social · 06/11/2025
This is a book I am really looking forward to read 😍 : The Arrogant Ape by @christinewebb.bsky.social (spoiler alert: we are the said arrogant apes) Will report once done 📚🤓
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Claudia Wascher @wascherclaudia.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
As Bonfire Night approaches, new research lnkd.in/epBXK8Tu by @distrustful-dinos.bsky.social and me shows that fireworks significantly disturb urban corvids. OA: ecoevorxiv.org/repository/d... #BonfireNight #Wildlife #AnimalWelfare #Corvids 📸 Photo: @distrustful-dinos.bsky.social
A picture of Berlin at night, fireworks are going off in the background and corvids are flying in the air. A picture of a hooded crow in a water puddle on the street. Some lights in the background. Picture of the Berlin skyline at night. Corvids are flying in the air.
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Mathilde Tahar @drmathildetahar.bsky.social · 02/11/2025
Our seminar on animal agency, between biology and philosophy, is back ! Check out the programme for the next sessions here ! We meet on the second Wednesday of each month, on Zoom, from 4 to 5 PM (UK time). You’re very welcome to join ! :) www.animalinventiveness.com/post/seminar...
animalinventiveness.com
Seminar Agency between Biology and Philosophy 2025/2026
Here, you will find the 2025-2026 programme, and general information about our seminar. The introductory post can be found here.ProgrammeThis year, we will meet each second Wednesday of each month, fr...
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Mathilde Tahar @drmathildetahar.bsky.social · 05/09/2025
Merci à Renan Strauss et @laviedesidees.bsky.social pour cette généreuse recension de mon livre ! Paru aux PUF et disponible dans beaucoup de librairies : www.puf.com/du-finalisme...
puf.com
Du finalisme en biologie | PUF
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La Vie des idées @laviedesidees.bsky.social · 05/09/2025
Peut-on confronter la philosophie bergsonienne aux problèmes de la biologie contemporaine de l'évolution ? Entre finalisme et mécanisme, M. Tahar montre la fécondité toujours actuelle de l'élan vital.
laviedesidees.fr
L'élan vital aujourd'hui
Peut-on confronter la philosophie bergsonienne aux problèmes de la biologie contemporaine de l'évolution ? Entre finalisme et mécanisme, M. Tahar montre la fécondité toujours actuelle de l'élan vital.
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Julien Le Mauff @julienlemauff.bsky.social · 05/09/2025
"Comme l’histoire humaine, celle de la vie est imprévisible et n’offre que rétrospectivement l’illusion d’un enchaînement causal déterministe." À lire aujourd'hui sur @laviedesidees.bsky.social, la recension par Renan Strauss de 'Du finalisme en biologie' de @drmathildetahar.bsky.social ⤵️
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Mathilde Tahar @drmathildetahar.bsky.social · 05/09/2025
« Avec son propos clair et bien documenté d’un point de vue scientifique, Mathilde Tahar a sans conteste réussi à dépoussiérer Bergson. Grâce à son travail, on comprend ce que la philosophie bergsonienne peut avoir de stimulant pour penser l’évolution aujourd’hui. » laviedesidees.fr/L-elan-vital...
laviedesidees.fr
L’élan vital aujourd’hui
À propos de : Mathilde Tahar, Du finalisme en biologie, Puf
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Mathilde Tahar @drmathildetahar.bsky.social · 18/07/2025
Il y a un an, je finissais mon livre… www.puf.com/du-finalisme...
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Emily Herring @emilyherring.bsky.social · 16/07/2025
I wrote about the slow death of the French public intellectual app.thenewworld.co.uk/story/138799...
Title: au revoir les philosophes
France used to revere its intellectuals but the men moaning about le wokisme are intellectual lightweights 
By Emily Herring 16 jul 2025
A photo of Jean-Paul Sartre talking to two women
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Christine Webb @christinewebb.bsky.social · 16/07/2025
I wonder, if we truly believe we are so much better than other species, why have we spent thousands of years driving home the point?
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The New Yorker @newyorker.com · 10/07/2025
In a letter drawn from a posthumous collection of correspondence, published in 2019, the neurologist Oliver Sacks argued that society had no immunity to the seductions of digital life. “What we are seeing—and bringing on ourselves—resembles a neurological catastrophe on a gigantic scale,” he wrote.
newyorker.com
The Machine Stops
The neurologist Oliver Sacks on steam engines, smartphones, and fearing the future.
712802755
Mathilde Tahar @drmathildetahar.bsky.social · 09/07/2025
Great paper on the degrees and levels of innovativeness, contributing to the ongoing debate on how to compare innovations & the ability to innovate !! (Nb. to be distinguished from the propensity to invent, which we are studying in chacma baboons @animalinvention.bsky.social ).
link.springer.com
Multilevel innovativeness and cross-species comparisons - European Journal for Philosophy of Science
Behavioral innovativeness—the propensity of an individual organism or higher group to innovate—is frequently invoked as a measurable trait allowing for cross-species comparisons. Individuals or specie...
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Andra Meneganzin @andrameneganzin.bsky.social · 02/07/2025
🔥New paper out!🔥 Here, Grant & I defend a novel, multidimensional account of behavioural innovativeness that is multilevel too. This complicates comparative claims, as the links btwn individual & group innovativeness are far from straightforward. Yes, #Neanderthals do pop up in the mix 💀🏺 #philsky
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Julien Le Mauff @julienlemauff.bsky.social · 08/07/2025
"L'animal est omniprésent dans l'œuvre de Bergson, apparaissant comme un modèle nécessaire à la fois pour penser l’humanité, et pour la replacer dans le mouvement général de l’évolution." 🐁🦩🐘🐒 Penser l'animal avec Bergson, par @drmathildetahar.bsky.social ⤵️
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La Vie des idées @laviedesidees.bsky.social · 08/07/2025
Les découvertes de la biologie contemporaine donnent un contenu empirique à l'idée bergsonienne selon laquelle les animaux insèrent de l'indétermination dans le monde. Bergson apparaît dès lors comme le complément philosophique nécessaire aux avancées de l'éthologie et de la biologie de l'évolution.
laviedesidees.fr
Penser l'animal avec Bergson
Les découvertes de la biologie contemporaine donnent un contenu empirique à l'idée bergsonienne selon laquelle les animaux insèrent de l'indétermination dans le monde. Bergson apparaît dès lors comme le complément philosophique nécessaire aux avancées de l'éthologie et de la biologie de l'évolution.
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Mathilde Tahar @drmathildetahar.bsky.social · 08/07/2025
Mieux comprendre les animaux en mêlant philosophie bergsonienne et biologie contemporaine, c’est ma niche écologique 🌱 J’y parle de Bergson (évidemment), de babouins, de corbeaux, et de la mode du chapeau-saumon 🐒 🐦‍⬛ 🐳 laviedesidees.fr/Penser-l-ani...
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Mathilde Tahar @drmathildetahar.bsky.social · 27/06/2025
Notre discussion avec @fmoullard.bsky.social sur la conscience animale, guidée par Fabien Trécourt, est désormais disponible en podcast! On y a parlé du jeu des poulpes🐙, des collaborations entre loups et corbeaux🐺 🐦‍⬛et de ce que ça fait d'être une chauve-souris 🦇! smartlink.ausha.co/soirees-phil...
smartlink.ausha.co
Éthologie : Dans la tête des animaux
Pouvons-nous penser comme la chauve-souris, jouer comme le poulpe ou encore collaborer comme le corbeau avec le loup ? Tous ces animaux perçoivent-ils et ont-ils conscience d’eux mêmes comme nous l’en...
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Mathilde Tahar @drmathildetahar.bsky.social · 10/06/2025
The next session of our seminar will take place on Thursday! I will be leading this session. (Note: I am on maternity leave, and chose to lead this session! That's how passionate I am about the subject!) You're very welcome to join us through Zoom! www.animalinventiveness.com/post/seminar...
The last session of our seminar before the summer break will take place next Thursday! We will be discussing the possibility of connecting (or not) the different concepts of biological agency.
I will be leading the session!
(Note: I am on maternity leave to take care of my newborn daughter, and I chose to lead this last session; no one forced me to! That's how passionate I am about the subject... or how much of a workaholic I am)
You're very welcome to join us through Zoom.
More infos on the seminar to be found here :
https://www.animalinventiveness.com/post/seminar-agency-between-biology-and-philosophy-first-session-report-and-
upcoming-sessions
Please feel free to email me if you have any questions :)
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Mathilde Tahar @drmathildetahar.bsky.social · 07/04/2025
Très heureuse de vous annoncer la publication de cet article bergsonien sur la conscience de la vie, et surtout la conscience des vivants non-humains ! shs.cairn.info/revue-archiv... (Ps. Dans le même numéro, il y a une recension de mon livre par Tobias Endres 😃 !!)
shs.cairn.info
Élan vital et conscience du vivant
Penser la créativité non humaine à partir de la philosophie bergsonienne
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Philippe huneman @philippehune.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
vient de sortir!. « logique et épistémologie. » ( Vrin) Une publication de référence, qui couvre l’ensemble des domaines de la logique et de la philosophie des sciences. Pas d’équivalent en français. Cela existe grâce à Pierre Wagner. Merci pour l’invitation à y contribuer:)
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SPS @spsphiloscience.bsky.social · 04/04/2025
Merci @ferrydanini.bsky.social pour l'annonce ! Cette page sera en effet tenue à jour par @cangleraux.bsky.social pour participer à donner de la visibilité à la Société de Philosophie des Sciences sur ce réseau ✨
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Mathilde Tahar @drmathildetahar.bsky.social · 05/04/2025
Mercredi soir prochain je parlerai de l’imagination et de l’invention animales à IHPST !!!! Plus d’infos ici 👉 ihpst.pantheonsorbonne.fr/evenements/s...
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svateboje.bsky.social @svateboje.bsky.social · 29/03/2025
i enjoyed this piece. all fair. tho, as a fellow Bergson lover, i lean away from play as adaption toward an overflowing in affordance. like "open" in Two Sources. or good old Lear: reason not the need!
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isoca @iasdoar.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
“Yet play offers more to the spectator than its delightful exuberance: it reveals a freedom and creativity unique to animals”. Que lindo isso
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Letícia Cesarino @letcesar.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
esse texto que o @luciomello.bsky.social me mandou é bem legal. parece o argumento do Graber em O Despertar de Tudo, aplicado a animais não-humanos.
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Rachel McVeigh 魏瑞秀 @remcveigh.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
“we need to rethink our assumptions and consider that animals may be capable of pretence, and therefore, a form of creativity.” aeon.co/essays/how-e...
aeon.co
How evolution favoured costly and frivolous animal play | Aeon Essays
Here’s a puzzle: how could evolution favour such a costly, frivolous and fun activity as animal play?
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Tim Christiaens @timchristiaens.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
This is essay on animal evolution and play is really brilliant. Essential reading!
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Mathilde Tahar @drmathildetahar.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
I am very happy to share this piece with you, exploring the link between inventiveness and play in nonhuman animals. It was written with care and a sincere desire to convey what science and philosophy can teach us about this fascinating topic. I hope you enjoy reading it! aeon.co/essays/how-e...
aeon.co
How evolution favoured costly and frivolous animal play | Aeon Essays
Here’s a puzzle: how could evolution favour such a costly, frivolous and fun activity as animal play?
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Florian Moullard @fmoullard.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
Very proud to share this with @drmathildetahar.bsky.social See you there 😊
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Mathilde Tahar @drmathildetahar.bsky.social · 13/03/2025
Next session of our online seminar on Agency between Biology and Philosophy is today (5pm UK time). We will talk about the link between organism and agency + biosemiotics !! Feel free to join us 😃 More info here: www.animalinventiveness.com/post/seminar...
animalinventiveness.com
Seminar Agency between Biology and Philosophy. Organisation and schedule
Here, you will find the programme of the upcoming sessions, and general information about our seminar. The introductory post can be found here.Next SessionsThe seminar series will continue on the seco...
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Mathilde Tahar @drmathildetahar.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
Cool paper with stimulating insights on the potential link between play and religion: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... (Unfortunately there is a pay wall / it requires academic access 😢which I am happy to provide for those interested)
tandfonline.com
The enduring search for the nature of play
This essay summarizes work on the origins, evolution and ethology of play over several decades. We now know that play occurs, although sporadically, in many animals other than birds and mammals inc...
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Mathilde Tahar @drmathildetahar.bsky.social · 13/02/2025
Our seminar on agency between biology and philosophy is still on, and we have amazing discussions. It is on the second Thursday of each month, from 5pm to 6pm (UK time). Feel free to join :) More info here : www.animalinventiveness.com/post/seminar...
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