Giulia Palazzolo
I am a Research Fellow in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Warwick. I completed my PhD at La Sapienza University of Rome in September 2022. I work on topics in, and at the intersection between, philosophy of mind, science and language. My research focuses on the origins of distinctively human forms of cognition, communication and cooperation. I bring together insights from developmental and comparative psychology and linguistics to understand the evolutionary pathways underlying distinctively human ways of thinking and interacting. I have a special interest in the continuities and discontinuities between animal and human minds; and in second-order questions about how we should approach and interpret animal capacities to inform our understanding of human evolution. I have published on the evolution of human syntax, the theoretical and methodological foundations of the comparative study of animal and human communication, and the evolution of reference. I am a post-doc on Richard MooreLink opens in a new window’s UKRI project ‘The Communicative MindLink opens in a new window’. I am also an affiliated member of the ‘Expression, Communication, and the Origins of MeaningLink opens in a new window’ Research Group (University of Connecticut), a member of the Warwick Mind and Action Research Centre, a member of the ‘Groups networkLink opens in a new window’; and a fellow of the Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute (DISI). I am co-founder of the project 'What is it like to be another animal'.
Publications
- 'Toward a bounded hierarchy framework for the study of the evolution of human syntax', Biology and Philosophy (*winner of the PAMBA 2025 Essay Prize; forthcoming).
- 'What is animal communication?', Ergo an Open Access Journal of Philosophy (forthcoming).
- 'Animal communication', The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy 2024, ed. E.N. Zalta (with Richard Moore).
- 'A case for animal reference. Beyond functional reference and meaning attribution', Synthese 2024, 203(59).
- 'Pragmatic Interpretation and the Production of Ideographic codes', Behavioral and Brain Sciences 2023, 46, e236 (with Leda Berio, Berke Can, Katharina Helming and Richard Moore).
- 'L'intenzionalità. Breve storia di un concetto filosofico', La voce e il logos 2020, ed. S. Gensini, pp. 451-471.
- 'Simbolicità e emotività negli animali non umani: un tema attuale con radici lontane', Rivista italiana di Filosofia del Linguaggio 2020, pp. 230-241 (with Stefano Gensini).
- Marin Cureau de la Chambre: Cognition and Language in Animals”, Blityri 2017, 6(2): 55-78.
Book reviews
- R. Humphreys, “Animals, ethics, and language. The philosophy of meaningful communication in the lives of animals”, for Bioethics (invited)
- S. Monsó, “Schrödinger’s possum: How animals experience and understand death (Italian edition)”, for Humanimalia (invited).
Teaching
University of Warwick
- Group Mindedness: Perspectives from Economics, Philosophy and Psychology (3rd year honours course).
- Introduction to Philosophy.
- Philosophy of mind (expected 2025)
- Philosophy of cognitive science (expected 2025)
York University Toronto Summer School (organised by Kristin Andrews in Roatàn (Honduras), in collaboration with the Dolphin Communication Project).
- Lectures on animal minds and communication.
La Sapienza University of Rome
- Philosophy of Language.
Selected conference talks
Invited
- 'A bounded hierarchy framework for the study of the evolution of human syntax', Psychology Language and Learning Group Away Day, University of Warwick (June 2025).
- 'Is a maximally unified account of animal and human communication achievable and desirable?', ARED Conference, University of Stirling (June 2025).
- ‘A bounded hierarchy account of the evolution of human syntax’, Workshop Animal Communication, Universitat de València (May 2025).
- ‘Toward a bounded hierarchy framework for the study of the evolution of human syntax’, Keynote Prize talk at PAMBA Conference, University of California, Santa Barbara (April 2025).
- ‘The evolution of human syntax’, Roma Tre (Dec 2024).
- ‘What is animal communication?’, UNED Madrid (Oct 2024).
- ‘The evolution of syntax’, University of Warwick Psychology (Oct 2024).
- ‘Thinking of animal and human communication together’, Evolutionary Pragmatics Forum (Apr 2024).
Peer-reviewed
The evolution of syntax
- Italian Association for Cognitive Science (Sep 2024).
What is animal communication?
- World Congress of Philosophy (Aug 2024).
- Evolang (May 2024, Madison, WI).
- Animal Minds Workshop (April 2024, London School of Economics).
The evolution of reference
- The Philosophy of Language Society Congress (Sep 2024, University of Rome La Sapienza).
- Protolang (Sep 2023, Roma Tre University).
- Inaugural Meeting of the Philosophy of Animal Minds and Behaviour Association (PAMBA) (Apr 2023, UNED, Madrid).
- Worskshop on Embodied Creativity (2019, University of Bologna).
- The Philosophy of Language Society Congress (2019, University of Cagliari).
Public philosophy
Organisation of the exhibition "What is it like to be another animal?Link opens in a new window"in collaboration with the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery with funds from London School of Advanced Studies Innovation Award (with Simon Brown & Ross Pain).
Contact details
Email:
Giulia.Palazzolo.1[at]warwick.ac.uk
Room: S2.63
Advice and Feedback Hours:
Monday: 14:00-16:00 (FAB4.01)
Here is the linkLink opens in a new window to book a 15-minute slot in my office hours.