Filippo Cabras
Research title: Explanation in Psychology and Neuroscience
Research summary
Some philosophers and cognitive scientists believe that scientific explanation of the mind must involve reference to physical areas in the brain. Others offer explanations that abstract from physical/neural details and focus on functions. These two approaches to theorising are often hard to reconcile, as they rely on different conceptual categories, respectively: concepts belonging to the language of neuroscience and biology, and concepts belonging to the intentional sphere (beliefs, desires).
Grounded in case studies, my research intends to show that both varieties of explanation are valuable because they provide different kinds of scientific understanding. Crucially, I wish to show that scientific understanding is more closely tied to the questions, goals, tools and practices of researchers than previously appreciated.
Supervisors
Teaching
Graduate Teaching Assistant (Philosophy), University of Glasgow
Academic Year 2026/27:
Philosophy of Perception (Senior Honours)
Additional information
Additional Roles
I am currently one of the organisers of the Philosophy Psychology and Neuroscience Seminar (PPN), jointly sponsored by the School of Psychology and Neuroscience, the Department of Philosophy and the CSPE.
Since 2025, I have been a member asnd co-organiser of the Minorities and Philosophy Chapter (MAP). On behalf of MAP, I obtained £100 from the Society for Women in Philosophy (SWIP) to fund a Q&A session for Postgraduate Students with Prof. Robin Dembroff (Yale), planned for December 2026.
I regularly work as research assistant on The Illusions Index, a fully searchable, interactive, curated collection of illusions sponsored by the Centre for the Study of Perceptual Experience. I have written several articles for the Index, covering a range of illusions. Read, for instance my articles on the Curvature Blindness Illusion and the Scintillating Starburst.
Between September 2025 and May 2026, I was one of the organisers of the Illusion of the Fortnight, an online seminar series focused on the interdisciplinary study of perceptual illusions. In this capacity, I co-organised and chaired a special session on 24th March 2026 as part of British Philosophy Fortnight. The event consisted of a joint talk given by Dr Chaz Firestone (Johns Hopkins) and Dr Dorsa Amir (Duke) on cross-cultural variations in illusions, followed by a Q&A session.
