Anton Killin
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View article: Four heuristics for theory selection in evolutionary cognitive archaeology
Four heuristics for theory selection in evolutionary cognitive archaeology Open
Understanding the minds of past populations through their material remains presents cognitive archaeologists with a range of inferential challenges. One of these is theory selection: which cognitive models should we choose for archaeologic…
View article: Intra- and Interindividual Aesthetic Disagreement: A Response to Tooming
Intra- and Interindividual Aesthetic Disagreement: A Response to Tooming Open
This paper extends the reach of the concept of aesthetic personality, as utilized by Uku Tooming in a recent article, ‘Aesthetic Disagreement with Oneself as Another’, published in Estetika (2023). Tooming invokes this concept as part of h…
View article: Philosophy and prehistory: new perspectives on minds, art, and culture
Philosophy and prehistory: new perspectives on minds, art, and culture Open
[PUBLISHED IN A PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL] This article introduces the special issue “Philosophy and Prehistory: New Perspectives on Minds, Art, and Culture.” The primary motivation for the issue was to create a space where philosophy and evol…
View article: Individualisation and individualised science across disciplinary perspectives
Individualisation and individualised science across disciplinary perspectives Open
Recent efforts in a range of scientific fields have emphasised research and methods concerning individual differences and individualisation. This article brings together various scientific disciplines—ecology, evolution, and animal behavio…
View article: Individualisation and individualised science across disciplinary perspectives
Individualisation and individualised science across disciplinary perspectives Open
Recent efforts in a range of scientific fields have emphasised research and methods concerning individual differences and individualisation. This article brings together various scientific disciplines—ecology, evolution, and animal behavio…
View article: Beyond reasonable doubt: reconsidering Neanderthal aesthetic capacity
Beyond reasonable doubt: reconsidering Neanderthal aesthetic capacity Open
An aesthetic sense—a taste for the creation and/or appreciation of that which strikes one as, e.g., attractive or awesome—is often assumed to be a distinctively H. sapiens phenomenon. However, recent paleoanthropological research is reveal…
View article: Past materials, past minds: The philosophy of cognitive paleoanthropology
Past materials, past minds: The philosophy of cognitive paleoanthropology Open
The philosophy of cognitive paleoanthropology involves three related tasks: (1) asking what inferences might be drawn from the paleontological and archaeological records to past cognition, behavior and culture; (2) constructing synthetic a…
View article: Individualisation and Individualised Science: Integrating Disciplinary Perspectives
Individualisation and Individualised Science: Integrating Disciplinary Perspectives Open
Recent trends in a range of scientific fields have seen a shift towards research and methods concerning individual differences and individualisation. This article brings together various scientific disciplines—ecology, evolution, and anima…
View article: Not by signalling alone: Music's mosaicism undermines the search for a proper function
Not by signalling alone: Music's mosaicism undermines the search for a proper function Open
Mehr et al. seek to explain music's evolution in terms of a unitary proper function – signalling cooperative intent – which they cash out in two guises, coalition signalling and (allo)parental attention signalling. Although we recognize th…
View article: CHIELD: the causal hypotheses in evolutionary linguistics database
CHIELD: the causal hypotheses in evolutionary linguistics database Open
Language is one of the most complex of human traits. There are many hypotheses about how it originated, what factors shaped its diversity, and what ongoing processes drive how it changes. We present the Causal Hypotheses in Evolutionary Li…
View article: Music Pluralism, Music Realism, and Music Archaeology
Music Pluralism, Music Realism, and Music Archaeology Open
According to pluralism about some concept, there are multiple non-equivalent, legitimate concepts pertaining to the (alleged)
\nontological category in question. It is an open question whether conceptual pluralism implies anti-realism abou…
View article: Reflections on imitation, vocal mimicry, and entrainment
Reflections on imitation, vocal mimicry, and entrainment Open
It is my contention that understanding natural phenomena such as vocal mimicry can bolster theories of the evolution of language and music as well as inform evolutionary and naturalistic aesthetics more generally. In this commentary I pres…
View article: The origins of music
The origins of music Open
Music is a fascinating topic for evolutionary theory, natural philosophy, and narrative construction: music is a highly valued feature of all known living cultures, pervading many aspects of daily life, playing many roles. And music is anc…
View article: Where did language come from? Connecting sign, song, and speech in hominin evolution
Where did language come from? Connecting sign, song, and speech in hominin evolution Open
Recently theorists have developed competing accounts of the origins and nature of protolanguage and the subsequent evolution of language. Debate over these accounts is lively. Participants ask: Is music a direct precursor of language? Were…
View article: Not Music, but Musics: A Case for Conceptual Pluralism in Aesthetics
Not Music, but Musics: A Case for Conceptual Pluralism in Aesthetics Open
We argue for conceptual pluralism about music. In our view, there is no right answer to the question ‘What is music?’ divorced from some context or interest. Instead, there are several, non-equivalent music concepts suited to different int…
View article: Hominin Musicality and Musical Expressivity: Revisting Davies' Contour Theory
Hominin Musicality and Musical Expressivity: Revisting Davies' Contour Theory Open
Stephen Davies defends an analysis of musical expressivity dubbed the ‘contour theory.’ In other work, Davies argues that hominin music could be as much as 500,000 years old. The musical expressivity debate is typically concerned with ‘pur…
View article: Music and philosophical naturalism
Music and philosophical naturalism Open
The philosophical and scientific explication of music is a cutting-edge field in contemporary academia. This thesis develops a naturalistic framework for theorising about music. The following novel philosophical positions are motivated and…
View article: Music and philosophical naturalism
Music and philosophical naturalism Open
The philosophical and scientific explication of music is a cutting-edge field in contemporary academia. This thesis develops a naturalistic framework for theorising about music. The following novel philosophical positions are motivated and…