Peter Godfrey-Smith (born 1965) is an Australian
philosopher of science
Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
and writer, who is currently Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at the
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...
. He works primarily in
philosophy of biology
The philosophy of biology is a subfield of philosophy of science, which deals with epistemology, epistemological, metaphysics, metaphysical, and ethics, ethical issues in the biological and biomedical sciences. Although philosophers of science and ...
and
philosophy of mind
Philosophy of mind is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of the mind and its relation to the Body (biology), body and the Reality, external world.
The mind–body problem is a paradigmatic issue in philosophy of mind, although a ...
, and also has interests in general philosophy of science,
pragmatism
Pragmatism is a philosophical tradition that views language and thought as tools for prediction, problem solving, and action, rather than describing, representing, or mirroring reality. Pragmatists contend that most philosophical topics†...
(especially the work of
John Dewey
John Dewey (; October 20, 1859 – June 1, 1952) was an American philosopher, psychologist, and Education reform, educational reformer. He was one of the most prominent American scholars in the first half of the twentieth century.
The overridi ...
), and some parts of
metaphysics
Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality. It is traditionally seen as the study of mind-independent features of the world, but some theorists view it as an inquiry into the conceptual framework of ...
and
epistemology
Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that examines the nature, origin, and limits of knowledge. Also called "the theory of knowledge", it explores different types of knowledge, such as propositional knowledge about facts, practical knowle ...
. Godfrey-Smith was elected to the
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...
in 2022.
Education and career
Born in Australia in 1965, Godfrey-Smith received a Ph.D. in philosophy from the
University of California, San Diego
The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...
in 1991 under the supervision of
Philip Kitcher. He previously taught at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
,
Stanford University
Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...
,
Australian National University
The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...
, and the
CUNY Graduate Center
The Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York (CUNY Graduate Center) is a public research institution and postgraduate university in New York City. Formed in 1961 as Division of Graduate Studies at City University ...
. Godfrey-Smith was the recipient of the
Lakatos Award
The Lakatos Award is given annually for an outstanding contribution to the philosophy of science, widely interpreted. The contribution must be in the form of a monograph, co-authored or single-authored, and published in English during the previou ...
for his 2009 book, ''Darwinian Populations and Natural Selection'' which discusses the philosophical foundations of the theory of
evolution
Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...
.
[.]
He has criticized the arguments of
intelligent design
Intelligent design (ID) is a pseudoscientific argument for the existence of God, presented by its proponents as "an evidence-based scientific theory about life's origins".#Numbers 2006, Numbers 2006, p. 373; " Dcaptured headlines for it ...
proponents. He was an early critic of Covid-19 lockdown measures, beginning with a series of Twitter posts in January 2021.
''Other Minds''
In 2016, Godfrey-Smith published the book ''
Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness''. It explores the origin of
sentience
Sentience is the ability to experience feelings and sensations. It may not necessarily imply higher cognitive functions such as awareness, reasoning, or complex thought processes. Some writers define sentience exclusively as the capacity for ''v ...
,
consciousness
Consciousness, at its simplest, is awareness of a state or object, either internal to oneself or in one's external environment. However, its nature has led to millennia of analyses, explanations, and debate among philosophers, scientists, an ...
and
intelligence
Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. It can be described as t ...
in the animal kingdom, specifically how it evolved in
cephalopods
A cephalopod is any member of the molluscan Taxonomic rank, class Cephalopoda (Greek language, Greek plural , ; "head-feet") such as a squid, octopus, cuttlefish, or nautilus. These exclusively marine animals are characterized by bilateral symm ...
compared to mammals and birds.
Books
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References
Further reading
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Godfrey-Smith, Peter
1965 births
Critics of creationism
Harvard University Department of Philosophy faculty
Living people
Animal cognition writers
Philosophers of biology
Australian philosophers of science
Stanford University Department of Philosophy faculty
University of California, San Diego alumni
Lakatos Award winners
Academic staff of the Australian National University
Academic staff of the University of Sydney
CUNY Graduate Center faculty
University of Sydney alumni
Australian philosophers of mind
20th-century Australian philosophers
21st-century Australian philosophers
Members of the American Philosophical Society