Stephen M Downe
Biographic Data
| ID | 124698 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Stephen M Downe |
| GIVEN NAMES | Stephen M |
| FAMILY NAME | Downe |
| SIGNATURE | DOWNE S M |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Utah |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-9363-3322 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 15 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 13 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 15 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1993 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
LLMs are not just next token predictors
LLMs are statistical models of language learning through stochastic gradient descent with a next token prediction objective. Prompting a popular view among AI modelers: LLMs are just next token predictors. While LLMs are engineered using next token prediction, and trained based on their success at this task, our view is that a reduction to just next token predictor sells LLMs short. Moreover, there are important explanations of LLM behavior and c…
Cooperation, Cognition, and the Elusive Role of Joint Agency
We propose an approach to the evolution of joint agency and cooperative behavior that contrasts with views that take joint agency to be a uniquely human trait. We argue that there is huge variation in cooperative behavior and that while much human cooperative behavior may be explained by invoking cognitively rich capacities, there is cooperative behavior that does not require such explanation. On both comparative and theoretical grounds, complex …
Variability of Aggression
Confronting Variation in the Social and Behavioral Sciences
I pose problems for the views that human nature should be the object of study in the social and behavioral sciences and that a concept of human nature is needed to guide research in these sciences. I proceed by outlining three research programs in the social sciences, each of which confronts aspects of human variation. Next, I present Elizabeth Cashdan and Grant Ramsey’s related characterizations of human nature. I go on to argue that the researc…
Evolutionary Perspectives on Human Aggression
Scientific Models
This contribution provides an assessment of the epistemological role of scientific models. The prevalent view that all scientific models are representations of (part of) the world is rejected. This view points to a unified way of resolving epistemic issues for scientific models. The emerging consensus in philosophy of science that models have many different epistemic roles in science is presented and defended
Life After Evolutionary Psychology
Pushing Pluralism in the Biology of Human Behaviour
Alternative splicing, the gene concept, and evolution
Agents and Norms in the New Economics of Science
In this article, the author focuses on Philip Kitcher’s and Alvin Goldman’s economic models of the social character of scientific knowledge production. After introducing some relevant methodological issues in the social sciences and characterizing Kitcher’s and Goldman’s models, the author goes on to show that special problems arise directly from the concept of an agent invoked in the models. The author argues that the two distinct concepts of ag…
A Novel Defense of Scientific Realism . Jarrett Leplin
Can Scientific Development and Children's Cognitive Development Be the Same Process
In this paper I assess Gopnik and Meltzoff's developmental psychology of science as a contribution to the understanding of scientific development. I focus on two specific aspects of Gopnik and Meltzoff's approach: the relation between their views and recapitulationist views of ontogeny and phylogeny in biology, and their overall conception of cognition as a set of veridical processes. First, I discuss several issues that arise from their appeal t…
Themes of Duality and Transformation in Szymanowski's 'King Roger
Simulating Science
Socializing Naturalized Philosophy of Science
I propose an approach to naturalized philosophy of science that takes the social nature of scientific practice seriously. I criticize several prominent naturalistic approaches for adopting “cognitive individualism”, which limits the study of science to an examination of the internal psychological mechanisms of scientists. I argue that this limits the explanatory capacity of these approaches. I then propose a three-level model of the social nature…
Scientific Models
This contribution provides an assessment of the epistemological role of scientific models. The prevalent view that all scientific models are representations of (part of) the world is rejected. This view points to a unified way of resolving epistemic issues for scientific models. The emerging consensus in philosophy of science that models have many different epistemic roles in science is presented and defended
Socializing Naturalized Philosophy of Science
I propose an approach to naturalized philosophy of science that takes the social nature of scientific practice seriously. I criticize several prominent naturalistic approaches for adopting “cognitive individualism”, which limits the study of science to an examination of the internal psychological mechanisms of scientists. I argue that this limits the explanatory capacity of these approaches. I then propose a three-level model of the social nature…
Confronting Variation in the Social and Behavioral Sciences
I pose problems for the views that human nature should be the object of study in the social and behavioral sciences and that a concept of human nature is needed to guide research in these sciences. I proceed by outlining three research programs in the social sciences, each of which confronts aspects of human variation. Next, I present Elizabeth Cashdan and Grant Ramsey’s related characterizations of human nature. I go on to argue that the researc…
Evolutionary Perspectives on Human Aggression
Agents and Norms in the New Economics of Science
In this article, the author focuses on Philip Kitcher’s and Alvin Goldman’s economic models of the social character of scientific knowledge production. After introducing some relevant methodological issues in the social sciences and characterizing Kitcher’s and Goldman’s models, the author goes on to show that special problems arise directly from the concept of an agent invoked in the models. The author argues that the two distinct concepts of ag…
Socializing Naturalized Philosophy of Science
I propose an approach to naturalized philosophy of science that takes the social nature of scientific practice seriously. I criticize several prominent naturalistic approaches for adopting “cognitive individualism”, which limits the study of science to an examination of the internal psychological mechanisms of scientists. I argue that this limits the explanatory capacity of these approaches. I then propose a three-level model of the social nature…
Simulating Science
Themes of Duality and Transformation in Szymanowski's 'King Roger
A Novel Defense of Scientific Realism . Jarrett Leplin
Can Scientific Development and Children's Cognitive Development Be the Same Process
In this paper I assess Gopnik and Meltzoff's developmental psychology of science as a contribution to the understanding of scientific development. I focus on two specific aspects of Gopnik and Meltzoff's approach: the relation between their views and recapitulationist views of ontogeny and phylogeny in biology, and their overall conception of cognition as a set of veridical processes. First, I discuss several issues that arise from their appeal t…
Agents and Norms in the New Economics of Science
In this article, the author focuses on Philip Kitcher’s and Alvin Goldman’s economic models of the social character of scientific knowledge production. After introducing some relevant methodological issues in the social sciences and characterizing Kitcher’s and Goldman’s models, the author goes on to show that special problems arise directly from the concept of an agent invoked in the models. The author argues that the two distinct concepts of ag…
Alternative splicing, the gene concept, and evolution
Pushing Pluralism in the Biology of Human Behaviour
Life After Evolutionary Psychology
Scientific Models
This contribution provides an assessment of the epistemological role of scientific models. The prevalent view that all scientific models are representations of (part of) the world is rejected. This view points to a unified way of resolving epistemic issues for scientific models. The emerging consensus in philosophy of science that models have many different epistemic roles in science is presented and defended
Evolutionary Perspectives on Human Aggression
Confronting Variation in the Social and Behavioral Sciences
I pose problems for the views that human nature should be the object of study in the social and behavioral sciences and that a concept of human nature is needed to guide research in these sciences. I proceed by outlining three research programs in the social sciences, each of which confronts aspects of human variation. Next, I present Elizabeth Cashdan and Grant Ramsey’s related characterizations of human nature. I go on to argue that the researc…
Variability of Aggression
Cooperation, Cognition, and the Elusive Role of Joint Agency
We propose an approach to the evolution of joint agency and cooperative behavior that contrasts with views that take joint agency to be a uniquely human trait. We argue that there is huge variation in cooperative behavior and that while much human cooperative behavior may be explained by invoking cognitively rich capacities, there is cooperative behavior that does not require such explanation. On both comparative and theoretical grounds, complex …
LLMs are not just next token predictors
LLMs are statistical models of language learning through stochastic gradient descent with a next token prediction objective. Prompting a popular view among AI modelers: LLMs are just next token predictors. While LLMs are engineered using next token prediction, and trained based on their success at this task, our view is that a reduction to just next token predictor sells LLMs short. Moreover, there are important explanations of LLM behavior and c…
Epistemology (11 works) · Philosophy (11 works) · Psychology (7 works) · Philosophy and History of Science (6 works) · Sociology (6 works) · Philosophy of science (5 works) · Computer Science (4 works) · Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior (4 works) · Social Psychology (4 works) · Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation (3 works)