The Ramsey Lab
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theramseylab.bsky.social
The Ramsey Lab
@theramseylab.bsky.social
1.3K followers 1.2K following 69 posts
The Ramsey philosophy of biology lab at KU Leuven, Belgium.
https://www.theramseylab.org • #HPbio #philsci #philsky #evosky #paleosky #cogsci
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theramseylab.bsky.social
Defining non-human #ToolUse remains contested, complicating scientific generalization & inspiring the concept of “tooling.” Our new 📄 @philscijournal.bsky.social proposes a synthetic framework to advance research on 🔧 use & tooling 👇 www.cambridge.org/core/journal... #philsci #cogsci #evosky #HPbio
Screenshot of the first page of a Philosophy of Science journal article titled “Tool Use Beyond Humans” by Gianmaria Dani and Grant Ramsey, published by the Philosophy of Science Association. The authors are affiliated with the Center for Logic and Philosophy of Science at KU Leuven, Belgium. Abstract: The definition of tool use has long been debated, especially when applied beyond humans. Recent work argues that the phenomena included within tool use are so broad and varied that there is little hope of using the category for scientific generalizations, explanations, and predictions about the evolution, ecology, and psychology of tool users. One response to this argument has been the development of tooling as a replacement for tool use. In this article, we analyze the tool use and tooling frameworks. Identifying advantages and limitations in each, we offer a synthetic approach that suggests promising avenues for future research.
November 10, 2025 at 2:15 PM
theramseylab.bsky.social
New Element in the #PhilBio series—free to download until Nov 17! Is disease an objective biological fact or a value-laden construct? Peter Takacs argues for a hybrid view that unites both sides under an evolutionary notion of dysfunction👇 www.cambridge.org/core/element... #philsky #philsci #evosky
Book cover of “Biology and Medical Theory” by Peter Takacs, in the Cambridge Elements: The Philosophy of Biology series. Against a black background, the title is surrounded by Ernst Haeckel’s illustrations of marine organisms—radial, symmetrical forms in vivid blues, oranges, reds, and greens.
November 3, 2025 at 2:08 PM
theramseylab.bsky.social
Correlation isn’t causation, as the mantra goes—but statistical noise in correlational data can reveal causal information. When X and Y are causally linked, their noise tends to be asymmetric & this can guide #CausalInference. Check out our 📃👇 doi.org/10.1111/nous... #philsky #philsci #StatsSky #HPS
Screenshot of the first page of a Noûs article titled “Causal Inference from Noise.” Authors: Nevin Climenhaga (Australian Catholic University), Lane DesAutels (Missouri Western State University), and Grant Ramsey (KU Leuven). The citation details read: Noûs 55:1 (2021), pages 152–170, DOI: 10.1111/nous.12300.
October 21, 2025 at 9:20 AM
theramseylab.bsky.social
New Element in the Philosophy of Biology series—free to download until Oct. 24! @djnicholson.bsky.social uncovers Schrödinger’s motivations for writing "What Is Life?", revisits its central arguments & examines the book’s lasting impact on cell & molecular biology👇 www.cambridge.org/core/element...
Book cover of “What Is Life? Revisted” by Daniel J. Nicholson, in the Cambridge Elements: The Philosophy of Biology series. Against a black background, the title is surrounded by Ernst Haeckel’s illustrations of marine organisms—radial, symmetrical forms in vivid blues, oranges, reds, and greens.
October 17, 2025 at 11:23 AM
theramseylab.bsky.social
Are you curious about what computational methods can offer to #HPS? Then check out the edited volume by Grant Ramsey & @andreasdeblock.bsky.social, published by @upittpress.bsky.social, showcasing key tools, questions, and investigative perspectives 👇📕💻 upittpress.org/books/978082... #philsky #DH
Book cover of "The Dynamics of Science: Computational Frontiers in History and Philosophy of Science" (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2022), edited by Grant Ramsey and Andreas De Block (KU Leuven). The design features a circular, data-inspired visualization with red and blue network patterns radiating from the center, suggesting computational and dynamic structures in science.
October 13, 2025 at 2:15 PM
theramseylab.bsky.social
New Cambridge Element in the Philosophy of Biology series—fully #openaccess! @thomasreydon.bsky.social explores how evolutionary theory crosses over from biology into other fields, showing how these crossovers embody a broader style of reasoning: 'evolutionary thinking' bit.ly/48z3h36 #HPbio #evosky
Book cover of “The Scope of Evolutionary Thinking” by Thomas A. C. Reydon, in the Cambridge Elements: The Philosophy of Biology series. Against a black background, the title is surrounded by Ernst Haeckel’s illustrations of marine organisms—radial, symmetrical forms in vivid blues, oranges, reds, and greens.
October 3, 2025 at 10:50 AM
theramseylab.bsky.social
Alejandro Fábregas-Tejeda (KU Leuven) presenting joint work with Gianmaria Dani and Grant Ramsey and articulating the concept of 'ethospace' to expand on the theoretical toolkit for advancing the comparative study of behavior across the three of life.

#philbio #hpbio #philsky #evosky #behavior🧪
September 27, 2025 at 1:26 PM
theramseylab.bsky.social
Mark Oliver Casper (University of Kassel/ University of Göttingen) discussing points of intersection between enactivism and behavioral biology & strategies for modelling behavioral complexity in response to the Motley Crue Argument.

#evosky #philbio #philsky #4Ecognition
September 27, 2025 at 12:40 PM
theramseylab.bsky.social
Auguste Nahas (@augustenahas.bsky.social) from Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University makes a case for choice as a topic of philosophical concern and distinguishes among five conceptual roles at play, with implications for the study of choice across the tree of life.

#hpbio #evosky #philsky #philbio
September 27, 2025 at 10:17 AM
theramseylab.bsky.social
Anton Killin (University of Bielefeld) on aesthetic behaviour & cognition.
While the aesthetic is often applied to humans & often to a Western, post-Kantian context, evalutative coevolutionary approaches suggest more promising avenues for research across the tree of life.

#philbio #evosky #philsky
September 27, 2025 at 9:30 AM
theramseylab.bsky.social
Kristin Aleklett (@kaleklett.bsky.social) from Lund University deep diving into the challenges and opportunities for studying the behvioral ecology of fungi. Tinbergen's 4 Qs are applicable, but some are trickier than others (e.g., development)

#evosky #fungi #philsky #behaviouralecology #philbio 🧪
September 27, 2025 at 8:07 AM
theramseylab.bsky.social
Kirsty Wan (@micromotility.bsky.social) starts the second day of the workshop with a tour de force overview of the behavioral complexity of single-celled organisms and ways to study and model it. #evosky #cellbio #HPbio
September 27, 2025 at 7:13 AM
theramseylab.bsky.social
Bengt Autzen (University College Cork) on plants, sensitivity and optimal choice, arguing that is possible to recognize a form of risk-sensitivity in pea plants but its relation to optimal foraging theory needs to be further examined. 🌱

#evosky #philsky #philbio #hpbio #plantbehavior 🧪
September 26, 2025 at 3:15 PM
theramseylab.bsky.social
Gianmaria Dani (KU Leuven) argues that perception, integration & conditioned response should be seen as 3 different steps in the process of classical conditioning & discusses the implications for plant associative learning. Beware of pseudoconditioning!🌱

#evosky #philbio #hpbio #philsky #hpbio 🧪
September 26, 2025 at 2:45 PM
theramseylab.bsky.social
Silvia Guerra (University of Padova) on goal-directed behavior in pea plants. Plants are able to perceive elements in the environment, the features of potential supports and to modulate their behavior according to context.

#evosky #philsky #philbio #hpbio #plantbehavior 🌱🧪
September 26, 2025 at 1:15 PM
theramseylab.bsky.social
Linda Grohmann (University of Wuppertal) argues that comparative research in behavior and cognition represents a double bind—a dilemma arising from the conflicting demands of providing definitions while presenting experimental results.

#evosky #hpbio #philbio #philsky 🧪
September 26, 2025 at 12:42 PM
theramseylab.bsky.social
Nedah N. Nemati (Columbia University) on rethinking behavioral similarity in comparative neurobiology. "Biology will not straightforwardly provide answers to structure without invoking notions of function".

#philsky #hpbio #evosky #behavior #neuroscience 🧪
September 26, 2025 at 10:18 AM
theramseylab.bsky.social
Susana Colinas Fischer (University College London) on what #Celegans can teach us about adapting existing behavioral frameworks to the study of new organisms. Interesting insights on how reward and punishment are integrated in the context of learning.

#evosky #philbio #hpbio #behavior🧪
September 26, 2025 at 8:49 AM
theramseylab.bsky.social
Tobias Starzak (Ruhr University Bochum) analyzing the loci of disagreement in animal minds research across principles of interpretation, new experimental approaches and concept selection.

#hpbio #philsky #evosky #philbio #animalbehavior🧪
September 26, 2025 at 8:22 AM
theramseylab.bsky.social
@alejandrofabregastejeda.com introduces the workshop’s rich, interdisciplinary program and the phylogenetic scope emerging from comparative studies of behavior. Two exciting days are ahead!

#hpbio #evosky #philbio #philsky 🧪
September 26, 2025 at 8:21 AM
theramseylab.bsky.social
The 'Behavior Across the Tree of Life' Workshop has finally kicked off! Here Gianmaria Dani maps the problem space for the event. How should we address behavior beyond animals and avoid the risks of anthropomorphic projection?

#hpbio #philsky #evosky #philbio 🧪
September 26, 2025 at 7:39 AM
theramseylab.bsky.social
Tomorrow we kick off the workshop "Behavior Across the Tree of Life"! We have a stellar lineup of philosophers & scientists who will discuss theoretical and methodological challenges for building a cross-kingdom comparative behavioral biology. Exciting developments to follow! #philsci #evobio #HPBio
Poster for a workshop organized by the Institute of Philosophy, KU Leuven, titled “Behavior Across the Tree of Life: Theoretical and Methodological Challenges.” The poster features circular images of lichens, bacteria, ants on a leaf, and a carnivorous plant with prey, symbolizing diverse behaving forms of life. Event details: 26–27 September 2025, Council Room (Raadzaal), Institute of Philosophy. Invited speakers: Kristin Aleklett, Silvia Guerra, Tobias Starzak, Kirsty Y. Wan. Organizers: Gianmaria Dani, Alejandro Fábregas-Tejeda, and Grant Ramsey. KU Leuven logo appears at the top, with a QR code at the bottom right.
September 25, 2025 at 1:55 PM
theramseylab.bsky.social
New Element in the Philosophy of Biology series—free to download until October 6! Walter Veit examines the role of models in evolutionary biology: their types, testability, and interrelations 👇📕 www.cambridge.org/core/element... #philsci #HPBio #evobio
Book cover of “Modelling Evolution” by Walter Veit, in the Cambridge Elements: The Philosophy of Biology series. Against a black background, the title is surrounded by Ernst Haeckel’s illustrations of marine organisms—radial, symmetrical forms in vivid blues, oranges, reds, and greens.
September 24, 2025 at 12:48 PM
theramseylab.bsky.social
Do notions like “programmed #cell death” (PCD) and the endogenous–exogenous death distinction apply to microbes? In our new chapter, we argue that an evolutionary concept of PCD extends across the tree of life, including microbial taxa 👇📃 link.springer.com/chapter/10.1... #evosky #HPbio #philsci 🦠 🔬
Cover page of the book chapter titled "Conceptual Foundations of Cell Mortality" by Pierre M. Durand and Grant Ramsey. The page includes a table of contents with sections: Introduction; Microbes, Cells, Death, and Mortality; Two Kinds of Microbial Cell Death: Endogenous and Exogenous (with subsections on distinguishing causes and endogenous microbial death); Conceptualizations of Programmed Cell Death; Endogenous Death, Programmed Cell Death, and Microbial Cell Fate (with a subsection on alternative terms for programmed cell death in microbes); and Toward an Overarching Framework of Cell Mortality, followed by References. Durand, P.M., Ramsey, G. (2025). Conceptual Foundations of Cell Mortality. In: Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/82_2025_328
September 22, 2025 at 3:06 PM
theramseylab.bsky.social
Organisms alter selective pressures in many ways. But can they also shape the drift probabilities of their populations? In our recent paper, we argue that they can—and, in doing so, we expand the scope of #nicheconstruction theory 📄👇 link.springer.com/article/10.1... #HPBio #evobio #ecology #HPS
Screenshot of the article header from Synthese, titled ‘Driftability and niche construction,’ authored by Alejandro Fábregas-Tejeda and Grant Ramsey.
September 11, 2025 at 7:13 PM