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I'm a Postdoc in the EMRG Lab in the Rotman Institute of Philosophy at Western University. Before coming here I finished my PhD in the Philosophy Department at Columbia University.
I work on the methodology and philosophy of science, studying how cognitive science and AI make complex systems, like brains and neural networks, intelligible. I also have research projects in philosophy of mind and philosophical methodology. You can reach me at arichmo8[at]uwo[dot]ca. My CV is here, and further down the page you can find descriptions of my research and teaching. |
Research
I work in philosophy of science, blending methods from philosophy and psychology to study scientific reasoning. Currently, I spend most of my time thinking about how philosophy, cognitive science, and AI can work together to make complex cognitive systems intelligible.
I focus primarily on how specialized concepts shape cognitive scientific work, and I take a pragmatic approach to that question — that is, I spend less time asking about the kinds or categories a concept might name, and more time asking how using the concept shapes cognitive scientists' reasoning and behavior, and how it serves science as a result.
My main project (1) elaborates and defends the pragmatic approach, (2) applies it in philosophy of cognitive science and AI, and (3) traces its implications for the study of concepts in both philosophy and psychology. Some other projects apply the pragmatic approach in philosophy of mind, especially concerning the way we conceptualize and engage with AI tools.
I work in philosophy of science, blending methods from philosophy and psychology to study scientific reasoning. Currently, I spend most of my time thinking about how philosophy, cognitive science, and AI can work together to make complex cognitive systems intelligible.
I focus primarily on how specialized concepts shape cognitive scientific work, and I take a pragmatic approach to that question — that is, I spend less time asking about the kinds or categories a concept might name, and more time asking how using the concept shapes cognitive scientists' reasoning and behavior, and how it serves science as a result.
My main project (1) elaborates and defends the pragmatic approach, (2) applies it in philosophy of cognitive science and AI, and (3) traces its implications for the study of concepts in both philosophy and psychology. Some other projects apply the pragmatic approach in philosophy of mind, especially concerning the way we conceptualize and engage with AI tools.
Publications (* = first/co-first author)
In preparation/under review
- Richmond, A. (forthcoming). What really lives in the swamp? Kinds and the illustration of scientific reasoning. Philosophy of Science.
- Baker, B.,* Lange, R.,* Richmond, A.,* Kriegeskorte, N., Cao, R., Pitkow, X., Schwartz, O., & Achille, A. (forthcoming). Use and usability: Three levels of neural representation. Neurons, Behavior, Data, and Theory.
- Richmond, A. (2025). What is a theory of neural representation for? Synthese, 205(14).
- Richmond, A. (2025). How Computation Explains. Mind & Language, 40(1).
- Richmond, A.,* Bowen, J. G., Kayssi, L. F., Küçük, K., Ravikumar, V., Şahin, Y., Anderson, M.L. (2024). Imposing vs finding unity. Cognitive Neuroscience, 15(3–4), 122-123.
- Richmond, A. (2023). Commentary: Investigating the concept of representation in the neural and psychological sciences. Frontiers in Psychology, 14.
In preparation/under review
- Richmond, A. Pragmatism in philosophy of cognitive science (under commission, Philosophy Compass)
- Richmond, A. Computational externalism (under review)
- Richmond, A. Social AI as a relational artefact (in preparation, see the policy brief here)
- Richmond, A. Experimental philosophy of science: Beyond categories (in preparation)
- Richmond, A. How concepts travel: Representation in philosophy, neuroscience, and explainable AI (in preparation)
Teaching
Most of my teaching is organized around the attempt to individualize my courses, as a way of making them accessible and engaging for all students. To do that, I lean especially on the principles of Universal Design for Learning.
Most of my teaching is organized around the attempt to individualize my courses, as a way of making them accessible and engaging for all students. To do that, I lean especially on the principles of Universal Design for Learning.
Teaching Materials
- AI and the Pedagogical Relationship [link]
A short article for Western University's Center for Teaching and Learning, on the use of AI tools and how they affect the social dimension of learning. - The Next Generation of Ethical AI [poster, details]
A summer school I ran in 2025, for high school students. It covered the technical basics of deep learning, the way AI is applied in areas like healthcare and education, and the ethical challenges posed by AI technology. The goal was to help the next generation of AI users, developers, and policy-makers become philosophically informed and ethically sensitive to the risks of AI. - Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence [syllabus]
An upper-level course I taught at Columbia, as a Teaching Scholar, on the relationship of AI to philosophy of mind, science, and ethics. The course gives students lots of latitude in the kind of work they do, especially on their final projects, while still ensuring that those projects are scaffolded. - Ethics [syllabus]
An intermediate-level course I taught at Columbia. It introduces traditional ethical theories in the context of current ethical dilemmas. The course's main distinguishing feature is that it is ungraded — an experiment that went very well, but that I probably won't try again any time soon. (Ungrading mostly served pedagogical goals that I can achieve in other ways. Grades serve pedagogical goals that I have difficulty achieving in other ways.) - Metaphysics [syllabus]
An intermediate-level course I taught at Columbia. It introduces metaphysics through some traditional topics, and then turns to broader questions about realism, naturalism, and the place of metaphysics in inquiry. - Philosophical Monsters [syllabus in progress]
An introductory- or intermediate-level course I plan to teach. The first part of the course introduces a range of philosophical topics through the bestiary they have created: philosophy of mind has P-zombies and swampmen; ethics has the utility monster; etc. The second part interrogates the methodology that gives such evidential weight to these monsters and thought experiments more generally. - Other
I have drafts of syllabi on the philosophy of cognitive science, the philosophy and psychology of humor, the epistemology of conspiracy theories, and some other subjects, which I can provide on request.
