I am an Associate Professor in the Philosophy Department at Tulane University, a faculty member in the Tulane Brain Institute, and the director of the Tulane Cognitive Studies Program. I am also co-managing editor of the Brains Blog.

My research focuses on a wide range of topics, most of which stem from an interest in how to functionally decompose complex cognitive and biological systems. I am also interested in how scientists reason-what their concepts are like, how they employ representations of different kinds, and how these representations relate to explanation and scientific practice. My science interests include systems neuroscience, cognitive science, perceptual psychology, and molecular biology. You can follow my work on Phil People, Academia.edu, and ResearchGate, or email me (dburnsto@tulane.edu) about anything at all.

Recent and Forthcoming Talks

  • Collaborative Modeling in Neuroscience: Lessons for the Philosophy of Scientific Representation. Philosophy of Neuroscience at the Gulf VI, Pensacola, September 2023.
  • An Inferentialist Account of Scientific Representation (with Mark Povich). International Society for the History, Philosophy, and Social Science of Biology, Toronto, July 2023.
  • How Your Brain Decides: Intertheoretic Reduction of the Concept of 'Decision'. Keynote Address, Georgia State University, Brains and Behavior Program Annual Retreat, May 2023.
  • Intertheoretic Reduction of the Concept of 'Decision'. Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology, Louisville, March 2023
  • Attitude Explanation and the Science of Decision (debate with Wayne Wu). Center for Philosophy of Science, University of Pittsburgh, April 2023.