DANIEL WILLIAMS Email: philosophydanwilliams@gmail.com Website: danwilliamsphilosophy.com research areas • Areas of Specialisation Philosophy of Cognitive Science; Philosophy of Social Science • Areas of Competence General Philosophy of Science; Social and Political Epistemology; Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence employment Lecturer in Philosophy • University of Sussex, Faculty of Philosophy (Jan 2023-present) Early Career Research Fellow • University of Cambridge, Corpus Christi College (Oct 2019-Jan 2023) Postdoctoral Research Fellow • University of Antwerp, Centre for Philosophical Psychology (Oct 2018-Sep 2019) education PhD in Philosophy Research Visit MPhil in Philosophy BA (Hons) in Philosophy • University of Cambridge (2015-2018) Thesis: ‘The Mind as a Predictive Modelling Engine: Generative Models, Structural Similarity, and Mental Representation’. Passed with no corrections Supervisors: Professor Richard Holton; Professor Huw Price Examiners: Professor Andy Clark; Dr Marta Halina • Monash University, Cognition and Philosophy Laboratory(July 2017- Oct 2017) Supervisor: Professor Jakob Hohwy • University of Cambridge (2014-2015) First Class (Distinction 78%) Thesis: ‘Price and Naturalism’ (High Distinction 81%) Thesis Supervisor: Dr Arif Ahmed • University of Sussex (2011-2014) First Class Honours (79%) Dissertation Title: ‘Lewis, Humility, and Qualia’ (High Distinction 85%) awards 2023 2021-2022 Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education Expert Panellist on the Public Value of Science Programme, International Science Council 2017 Mind Association Major Conference Grant (£2000) 2017 CRASSH, University of Cambridge, Conference Grant (£2500) 2017 Trinity Hall College, University of Cambridge, Research Grant (£1500) 2017 Arts and Humanities Research Council Overseas Study Visit Funding (£1520) 2015 Teaching and Transferable Skills course certificate 2015-2018 Peterhouse College Research Studentship for PhD (Fees + Maintenance) (declined) 2015-2018 Full Arts and Humanities Research Council Funding for PhD (Fees + Maintenance) 2015 Matthew Buncombe Prize: Best Overall Performance on the Philosophy MPhil Course, University of Cambridge 2014-2015 Darwin College Philosophy Studentship (£500) 2014-2015 Full Arts and Humanities Research Council Funding (Fees + Maintenance) 2014 Year 3 Philosophy Prize: Best Dissertation, University of Sussex Philosophy 2014 Year 3 Philosophy Prize: Best Overall Grades, University of Sussex Philosophy 2013 Year 2 Philosophy Prize: Best Overall Grades, University of Sussex Philosophy books Under Contract ’Why it’s OK to be Cynical’. Routledge. ’The Social Roots of Delusions’. Oxford University Press. (co-authored with Kengo Miyazono and Sam Wilkinson). (To be submitted before 31/12/2024) single-authored articles 2024 Williams, D. The social turn in delusions research. Routledge Handbook of the Philosophy of Delusion. Williams, D. Identity-Defining Beliefs on Social Media. Philosophical Topics. Williams, D. The Case for Partisan Motivated Reasoning. Synthese. 2023 Williams, D. Bad Beliefs: Why They Happen to Highly Intelligent, Vigilant, Devious, Self-deceiving, Coalitional Apes. Philosophical Psychology. 2022 Williams, D. The Marketplace of Rationalisations. Economics and Philosophy. 2021 Williams, D. Is the Brain an Organ for Free Energy Minimisation? Philosophical Studies. Williams, D. Signalling, Commitment, and Strategic Absurdities. Mind and Language. 2020 Williams, D. Motivated Ignorance, Rationality, and Democratic Politics. Synthese. Williams, D. Imaginative Constraints and Generative Models. Australasian Journal of Philosophy. 2019 Williams, D. Epistemic Irrationality in the Bayesian Brain. British Journal for the Philosophy of Science. Williams, D. Socially Adaptive Belief. Mind and Language. Williams, D. Hierarchical Minds and the Perception/Cognition Distinction. Inquiry. 2018 Williams, D. Predictive Minds and Small-Scale Models: Kenneth Craik’s Contribution to Cognitive Science. Philosophical Explorations. Williams, D. Hierarchical Bayesian Models of Delusion. Consciousness And Cognition. Williams, D. Predictive Coding and Thought. Synthese. Williams, D. Pragmatism and the Predictive Mind. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences. 2017 Williams, D. Predictive Processing and the Representation Wars. Minds and Machines. co-authored articles 2023 Williams, D., Miyazono, K. Culture, Partisanship, and Signalling: The Social Nature of Political Belief Systems. Psychological Inquiry. Williams, D., Montagnese, M. Bayesian Psychiatry and the Social Focus of Delusions. In Expected Experiences: The Predictive Mind in an Uncertain World, (eds.) Cheng, T., Sato, R., Hohwy, J. London: Routledge. 2018 Gadsby, S., Williams, D. Action, Affordances, and Anorexia: Body Representation and Basic Cognition. Synthese. 2017 Williams, D., Colling, L. From Symbols to Icons: The Return of Resemblance in the Cognitive Neuroscience Revolution. Synthese. reviews 2021 Williams, D. Review of The Epistemic Innocence of Irrational Beliefs by Lisa Bortolotti. Mind. 2016 Williams, D. Review of Surfing Uncertainty: Prediction, Action, and the Embodied Mind, by Andy Clark, Oxford University Press. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences. Williams, D. Cognitive Pluralism. Philosophical Psychology. selected talks (all invited) 2024 ’The Marketplace of Misleading Ideas’, The Argumentative Theory of Reason Workshop, University of Seville (11/04/2024) ’The Social Roots of Delusions’, Dynamics of Delusion Seminar Series, University of Oxford (11/01/2024) 2023 ’Are There Fingerprints of Misinformation?’, Varieties of Misinformation Workshop, University of Valencia (26/10/2023) ’The Focus on Misinformation in Science and Society’, Public Philosophy and Social Change, University of Utrecht (29/06/2023) 2022 ’Identity-defining Beliefs on Social Media’, Social Minds in Digital Spaces Workshop, University of Arkansas (07/10/2022) ‘Bad Beliefs: Why They Happen to Highly Intelligent, Vigilant, Competitive, and Political Primates’, Online Symposium on Neil Levy’s “Bad Beliefs” (15/06/2022) ‘Is Democratic Group Cognition Rational?’, The Psychology and Epistemology of Political Cognition Workshop, University of Liverpool (14/06/2022) ‘Scaffolding Motivated Cognition’, University of Sheffield (26/04/2022) ‘Scaffolding Motivated Cognition’, University of Edinburgh (06/04/2022) 2021 ‘Identity-Biased Cognition: Groups, Motivated Reasoning, and Misinformation’, Tribalism: Ethical and Epistemological Issues, University of Seville (02/12/2021) ‘Computational Psychiatry and the Social Focus of Delusions’, Deluded by Experience Workshop, University of Birmingham (13/07/2021) 2020 ‘Signalling, Solidarity, and Strategic Delusions’, Egenis Seminar, University of Exeter (07/12/2020) 2019 ‘Predictive Processing in Psychiatry: A Critique’, Sowerby Workshop, Conceptual Issues in Biological Psychiatry, King’s College London (06/12/2019) ‘Imaginative Constraints and Generative Models’, Centre for Philosophical Psychology, Antwerp 2018 ‘Socially Adaptive Belief’, Centre for Philosophical Psychology, University of Antwerp 2017 ‘Predictive Coding and Thought’, Cognition and Philosophy Laboratory, Monash University ‘Bayesian Brains, Functionalism, and the Intentional Stance’, Society for Philosophy and Psychology, John Hopkins University academic service BA Convenor for Philosphy Director of Studies Main Conference Coordinator • Sep 2023 - Present. Responsible for organising and coordinating academic activities, in collaboration with the Head of Department. • Sep 2021 - Sep 2022. Director of studies for all philosophy students at Corpus Christi College, University of Cambridge. • May 2019. For “Mental Imagery and Bayesian Models in Philosophy and Cognitive Science.” Conference at the Centre for Philosophical Psychology, University of Antwerp. • Jan 2018. For “Predictive Processing: Reconstructing the Mind?” Conference at the University of Cambridge. Funding secured: CRASSH (£2500); The Mind Association (£2000). Secretary Peer-Reviewer • Jan-Jun 2017. Serious Metaphysics Group, University of Cambridge. • Ongoing. Reviewer for: British Journal of the Philosophy of Science; Nous; Philosophical Studies; Australasian Journal of Philosophy; Economics and Philosophy; Mind and Language; Philosophical Psychology; Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences; Philosophy and Phenomenological Research. academic teaching Lecturing • University of Sussex: Science and Reason (1st year Undergraduates), Logic and Meaning (1st year Undergraduates), Philosophy of Science (2nd year Undergraduates), Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence (3rd year Undergraduates) • University of Cambridge: Epistemology of Mind (3rd Year Philosophy Undergraduates, 2022) and Intention and the Will (3rd year Philosophy Undergraduates, 2018) Group Supervisions • Philosophy of Economics (Economics and Philosophy Undergraduates) Supervisions • MA dissertations (Sussex) and MPhil Essays (Cambridge) • Philosophy of Cognitive Science • Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence (extended essay) • Philosophy of Science • Philosophy of Mind • Philosophical Logic • Metaphysics and Epistemology Examiner • MPhil Essays for students at the University of Cambridge references • Professor Richard Holton, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Cambridge rjh221@cam.ac.uk • Professor Jakob Hohwy, Faculty of Philosophy, Monash University jakob.hohwy@monash.edu • Professor Andy Clark, School of Philosophy, University of Sussex andy.Clark@sussex.ac.uk • Professor Huw Price, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Cambridge hp331@cam.ac.uk • Professor Eric Funkhouser, Professor of Philosophy, University of Arkansas efunkho@uark.edu