M.A., Ph.D., Washington University in St. Louis (Philosophy-Neuroscience-Psychology program); B.A, Wesleyan University

Mike Dacey works at the intersection of Philosophy and the Cognitive Sciences, especially Psychology and Neuroscience. His work questions how models of mental processes can be built based on available evidence, and what we can take these models to tell us about the processes they describe. He focuses on on examples in nonhuman animals and in the human unconscious, where these problems are particularly difficult. In both cases, the concept of simplicity plays an important role both in scientific evaluation of models of processes, and in work on normative evaluation of actions the process produces. Mike hopes to clarify, and where necessary amend, the assumptions behind these practices.