Professor Emeritus Paul Griffiths
Domain Leader for Society and Environment, Charles Perkins Centre
Paul Griffiths is Challis Professor of Philosophy at the University of Sydney and a Domain leader at the Charles Perkins Centre, one of the university's main biomedical research institutes.
Philosophical issues in contemporary biology and biomedicine; philosophy of psychology
TheTheory and Method in Bioscience group includes PhD and Honours students who work closely with Prof. Griffiths and the Research fellows and Postdoctoral Fellows. We are keen to recruit new students working on topics related to our funded research projects. See our website for more details.
Selected publications
Publications
Books
- Griffiths, P., Stotz, K. (2013). Genetics and Philosophy: An Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [More Information]
Edited Books
- Griffiths, P., Oyama,, S., Gray, R. (2001). Cycles of Contingency: Developmental Systems and Evolution. United States: MIT Press.
Book Chapters
- Stotz, K., Griffiths, P. (2018). A developmental systems account of human nature. In Elizabeth Hannon and Tim Lewens (Eds.), Why We Disagree About Human Nature, (pp. 1-23). Oxford: Oxford University Press. [More Information]
- Stotz, K., Griffiths, P. (2017). Biological Information, Causality, and Specificity: An Intimate Relationship. In Sara I. Walker, Paul C. W. Davies, George F. R. Ellis (Eds.), From Matter to Life: Information and Causality, (pp. 366-390). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [More Information]
- Griffiths, P. (2017). Current emotion research in philosophy. In R Kingston, K Banerjee, J McKee, Y Chien, C C Vassiliou (Eds.), Emotions, Community, and Citizenship: Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives, (pp. 105-125). Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Journals
- Griffiths, P., Bourrat, P. (2023). Integrating evolutionary, developmental and physiological mismatch. Evolution, Medicine and Public Health, 11(1), 277-286. [More Information]
- Christie, J., Brusse, C., Bourrat, P., Takacs, P., Griffiths, P. (2021). Do Proper Functions Explain the Existence of Traits? Australasian Philosophical Review.
- Griffiths, P., Matthewson, J. (2020). Diseases are Not Adaptations and Neither are Their Causes: A Response to Ardern’s "Dysfunction, Disease, and the Limits of Selection" (Biological Theory 13:4–9, 2018). Biological Theory, 15(3), 136-142. [More Information]
Patents
- Thomson, C., Capolingua, R., Caris, S., Coyne, C., Dunbar, T., Sainsbury, P., Gleeson, G., Griffiths, P., Maley, B., O'Connor, M., Pike, G., et al (2007).
Reference Works
- Griffiths, P., Hochman, A. (2015). Developmental Systems Theory. In Alessandro Finazzi-Agro (Eds.), eLS. (pp. 1-7). USA: John Wiley & Sons.
- Walsh, E., Griffiths, P. (2015). Emotion, Evolution of. In N. Smelser & P. Bates (Eds.), International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences. (pp. 467-471). Pergamon Elsevier.
- Griffiths, P. (2008). Philosophy of Biology. In Edward N. Zalta (Eds.), Stanford Enclopedia of Philosophy. USA: Metaphysics Research Lab, CSLI, Stanford University.
Research Reports
- Trent, R., Otlowski, M., Ralston, M., Lonsdale, L., Young, M., Suthers, G., Griffiths, P., Delatycki, M., Christodoulou, J., Barlow-Stewart, K. (2010). Medical Genetic Testing: Information for health professionals, NHMRC Publication reference: E99, (pp. vi - 94). Canberra, Australia: Australian Government National Health and Medical Research Council.
2023
- Griffiths, P., Bourrat, P. (2023). Integrating evolutionary, developmental and physiological mismatch. Evolution, Medicine and Public Health, 11(1), 277-286. [More Information]
2021
- Christie, J., Brusse, C., Bourrat, P., Takacs, P., Griffiths, P. (2021). Do Proper Functions Explain the Existence of Traits? Australasian Philosophical Review.
2020
- Griffiths, P., Matthewson, J. (2020). Diseases are Not Adaptations and Neither are Their Causes: A Response to Ardern’s "Dysfunction, Disease, and the Limits of Selection" (Biological Theory 13:4–9, 2018). Biological Theory, 15(3), 136-142. [More Information]
- Calcott, B., Pocheville, A., Griffiths, P. (2020). Signals That Make a Difference. British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 71(1), 233-258. [More Information]
2019
- Lynch, K., Morandini, J., Dar-Nimrod, I., Griffiths, P. (2019). Causal Reasoning About Human Behavior Genetics: Synthesis and Future Directions. Behavior Genetics, 49(2), 221-234. [More Information]
2018
- Stotz, K., Griffiths, P. (2018). A developmental systems account of human nature. In Elizabeth Hannon and Tim Lewens (Eds.), Why We Disagree About Human Nature, (pp. 1-23). Oxford: Oxford University Press. [More Information]
- Griffiths, P., Matthewson, J. (2018). Evolution, Dysfunction, and Disease: A Reappraisal. British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 69(2), 301-327. [More Information]
- Wiessing, L., Ferri, M., Darke, S., Simon, R., Griffiths, P. (2018). Large variation in measures used to assess outcomes of opioid dependence treatment: A systematic review of longitudinal observational studies. Drug and Alcohol Review, 37, S323-S338. [More Information]
2017
- Matthewson, J., Griffiths, P. (2017). Biological criteria of disease: Four ways of going wrong. The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy: a forum for bioethics and philosophy of medicine, 42(4), 447-466. [More Information]
- Stotz, K., Griffiths, P. (2017). Biological Information, Causality, and Specificity: An Intimate Relationship. In Sara I. Walker, Paul C. W. Davies, George F. R. Ellis (Eds.), From Matter to Life: Information and Causality, (pp. 366-390). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [More Information]
- Griffiths, P. (2017). Communicating genomic complexity. Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 150(1), 93-103. [More Information]
2016
- Stotz, K., Griffiths, P. (2016). A niche for the genome. Biology and Philosophy, 31(1), 143-157. [More Information]
- Mounteney, J., Griffiths, P., Cunningham, A., Evans-Brown, M., Ferri, M., Hedrich, D., Noor, A. (2016). Continued signs of resilience in the European drug market: Highlights from the EMCDDA’s 2016 European drug report. Drugs: education, prevention & policy, 23(6), 492-495. [More Information]
- Stotz, K., Griffiths, P. (2016). Epigenetics: ambiguities and implications. History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences, 38(4), 1-20. [More Information]
2015
- Griffiths, P., West, C. (2015). A balanced intervention ladder: Promoting autonomy through public health action. Public Health, 129(8), 1092-1098. [More Information]
- Griffiths, P. (2015). Conceptual Change and Conceptual Diversity Contribute to Progress in Science. In Gabriele Bammer (Eds.), Change! Combining Analytic Approaches with Street Wisdom, (pp. 163-175). ACT: ANU Press. [More Information]
- Griffiths, P., Wilkins, J. (2015). Crossing the Milvian Bridge: When Do Evolutionary Explanations of Belief Debunk Belief? In Phillip R. Sloan, Gerald McKenny, Kathleen Eggleson (Eds.), Darwin in the 21st Century: Nature, Humanity, and God, (pp. 201-231). Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press.
2014
- Griffiths, P., Stotz, K. (2014). Conceptual Barriers to Interdisciplinary Communication: When Does Ambiguity Matter? In M. O'Rourke, S. Crowley, S.D. Eigenbrode, J.D. Wulfhorst (Eds.), Enhancing Communication & Collaboration in Interdisciplinary Research, (pp. 195-215). Los Angeles: Sage Publications. [More Information]
- Mounteney, J., Griffiths, P. (2014). Increasing complexity in European drug use: Highlights from the EMCDDA's 2014 European drug report. Drugs: education, prevention & policy, 21(6), 482-483. [More Information]
- Hughes, B., Griffiths, P. (2014). Regulatory approaches to new psychoactive substances (NPS) in the European Union. Addiction, 109(10), 1591-1593. [More Information]
2013
- Mena, G., Giraudon, I., Álvarez, E., Corkery, J., Matias, J., Grasaasen, K., Llorens, N., Griffiths, P., Vicente, J. (2013). Cocaine-related health emergencies in Europe: A review of sources of information, trends and implications for service development. European Addiction Research, 19(2), 74-81. [More Information]
- Griffiths, P. (2013). Current Emotion Research in Philosophy. Emotion Review, 5(2), 215-222. [More Information]
- Griffiths, P., Tabery, J. (2013). Developmental Systems Theory: What Does It Explain, and How Does It Explain It? Advances in Child Development and Behavior, 44, 65-94. [More Information]
2012
- Marais, B., Crawford, J., Iredell, J., Ward, M., Simpson, S., Gilbert, G., Griffiths, P., Kamradt-Scott, A., Colagiuri, R., Jones, C., et al (2012). One world, one health: Beyond the Millennium Development Goals. The Lancet, 380(9844), 805-806. [More Information]
2011
- Scarantino, A., Griffiths, P. (2011). Don't Give Up on Basic Emotions. Emotion Review, 3(4), 444-454. [More Information]
- Linquist, S., Machery, E., Griffiths, P., Stotz, K. (2011). Exploring the folkbiological conception of human nature. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 366, 444-453. [More Information]
- Griffiths, P. (2011). Our Plastic Nature. In Snait B. Gissis and Eva Jablonka (Eds.), Transformations of Lamarckism: From Subtle Fluids to Molecular Biology, (pp. 319-330). Cambridge, Mass; USA: MIT Press. [More Information]
2010
- Griffiths, P. (2010). Emotion on Dover Beach: Feeling and Value in the Philosophy of Robert Solomon. Emotion Review, 2(1), 22-28. [More Information]
- Tabery, J., Griffiths, P. (2010). Historical and Philosophical Perspectives on Behavioral Genetics and Developmental Science. In Kathryn E Hood, Carolyn Tucker Halpern, Gary Greenberg, and Richard M. Lerner (Eds.), Handbook of Developmental Science, Behavior, and Genetics, (pp. 41-60). Oxford, UK: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing. [More Information]
- Trent, R., Otlowski, M., Ralston, M., Lonsdale, L., Young, M., Suthers, G., Griffiths, P., Delatycki, M., Christodoulou, J., Barlow-Stewart, K. (2010). Medical Genetic Testing: Information for health professionals, NHMRC Publication reference: E99, (pp. vi - 94). Canberra, Australia: Australian Government National Health and Medical Research Council.
2009
- Griffiths, P., Scarantino, A. (2009). Emotions in the Wild: The Situated Perspective on Emotion. In Phillip Robbins, Murat Aydede (Eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Situated Cognition, (pp. 437-453). New York, United States: Cambridge University Press.
- Griffiths, P. (2009). In What Sense Does 'Nothing Make Sense Except in the Light of Evolution'? Acta Biotheoretica, 57, 11-32. [More Information]
- Colyvan, M., Linquist, S., Grey, W., Griffiths, P., Odenbaugh, J., Possingham, H. (2009). Philosophical Issues in Ecology: Recent Trends and Future Directions. Ecology and Society, 14(2), 22-1-22-12. [More Information]
2008
- Griffiths, P., Tabery, J. (2008). Behavioral genetics and development: Historical and conceptual causes of controversy. New Ideas in Psychology, 26, 332-352. [More Information]
- Stotz, K., Griffiths, P. (2008). Biohumanities: Rethinking the relationship between biosciences, philosophy and history of science, and society. The Quarterly Review of Biology, 83(1), 37-45. [More Information]
- Griffiths, P. (2008). Ethology, Sociobiology, and Evolutionary Psychology. In Sahotra Sarkar, Anya Plutynski (Eds.), A Companion to Philosophy of Biology, (pp. 393-414). Oxford: Blackwell Publishers. [More Information]
2007
- Thomson, C., Capolingua, R., Caris, S., Coyne, C., Dunbar, T., Sainsbury, P., Gleeson, G., Griffiths, P., Maley, B., O'Connor, M., Pike, G., et al (2007).
- Griffiths, P. (2007). Evo-devo meets the mind: towards a developmental evolutionary psychology. In Roger Sansom and Robert N. Brandon (Eds.), Integrating evolution and development : from theory to practice, (pp. 195-225). Mass; London: MIT Press.
- Griffiths, P., Stotz, K. (2007). Gene. In Hull, David and Ruse, Michael (Eds.), The Cambridge Companion to the Philosophy of Biology, (pp. 85-102). New York, USA: Cambridge University Press.
2006
- Griffiths, P. (2006). Evolutionary Psychology. In Sarkar S. & Pfeiffer J. (Eds.), The Philosophy of Science: An Encyclopedia. (pp. 263-268). New York: Routledge imprint of Taylor & Francis.
- Griffiths, P. (2006). Function, Homology, and Character Individuation. Philosophy of Science, 73(1), 1-25. [More Information]
- Griffiths, P., Stotz, K. (2006). Genes in the Postgenomic Era. Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics, 27(6), 499-521. [More Information]
2005
- Griffiths, P., Gray, R. (2005). Discussion: Three ways to misunderstand developmental systems theory. Biology and Philosophy, 20(2-3), 417-425. [More Information]
- Griffiths, P. (2005). Review of Embryology, Epigenesis and Evolution: Taking Development Seriously by Jason Scott Robert. Philosophy in Review, 25(3), 222-224.
- Griffiths, P. (2005). Review of Niche Construction: The neglected process in evolution by F. John Odling-Smee, Kevin N.Laland, Marcus W. Feldman. Biology and Philosophy, 20(1), 11-20. [More Information]
2004
- Griffiths, P. (2004). Emotions as Natural and Normative Kinds. Philosophy of Science, 72(5), 901-911. [More Information]
- Stotz, K., Griffiths, P. (2004). Genes: philosophical analyses put to the test. History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences, 26(1), 5-28. [More Information]
- Stotz, K., Griffiths, P., Knight, R. (2004). How biologists conceptualize genes: an empirical study. Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, 35, 647-673. [More Information]
2003
- Griffiths, P. (2003). Basic Emotions, Complex Emotions, Machiavellian Emotions. In Anthony Hatzimoysis (Eds.), Philosophy and the Emotions, (pp. 39-67). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Griffiths, P. (2003). Beyond the Baldwin Effect: James Mark Baldwin's 'Social Heredity', Epigenetic Inheritance and Niche-Construction. In Bruce H Weber and David J Depew (Eds.), Evolution and Learning: The Baldwin Effect Reconsidered, (pp. 193-216). United States: MIT Press.
- Stotz, K., Griffiths, P. (2003). Dancing in the Dark: Evolutionary Psychology and the Argument from Design. In Steven J. Scher and Frederick Rauscher (Eds.), Evolutionary Psychology: Alternative Approaches, (pp. 135-160). United States of America: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
2002
- Griffiths, P. (2002). Developmental Systems Theory. Nature Encyclopedia of the Life Sciences. (pp. http://www.els.net/). London: Nature Publishing Group.
- Griffiths, P. (2002). Life Science. Making sense of Life: Explaining Biological Development with Models, Metaphors and Machines - Review of Keller, E. F. (2002). JAMA - Journal of the American Medical Association, 288(24), 3170.
2001
- Griffiths, P., Oyama,, S., Gray, R. (2001). Cycles of Contingency: Developmental Systems and Evolution. United States: MIT Press.
- Griffiths, P., Gray, R. (2001). Darwinism and Developmental Systems. In Not known (Eds.), Cycles of Contingency: Developmental Systems and Evolution, (pp. 195-218). United States: MIT Press.
- Griffiths, P. (2001). Emotion and the problem of psychological categories. In Alfred W. Kaszniak (Eds.), Emotions, Qualia and Consciousness, (pp. 28-41). United States: World Scientific Publishing.
Selected Grants
2023
- Domain Leader, Society and environment, Griffiths P, Charles Perkins Centre/CPC Research Award (Leadership)
2022
- FASS Research Leadership Awards 2022, Griffiths P, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences/FASS Research Leadership Award 2022
Other Grants
- Cognition All The Way Up?, Lead Investigator: Dr. Pierrick Bourrat (Macquarie University), Co-investigators: Dr Andrew Barron (Macquarie University), Dr Paul Griffiths (University of Sydney), John Templeton Foundation, December 2024 - August 2027