Simon Brown

I am an Assistant Professor in Philosophy at Ashoka University, in Haryana, just outside Delhi, India.  I joined Ashoka in August 2025. 

I completed my PhD in Philosophy at Columbia University in May 2020. I was then a Postdoctoral Fellow, first in the Foundations of Mind at Johns Hopkins University, and then with the Foundations of Animal Sentience Project at the London School of Economics and Political Science.  Before Columbia, I did both my BA (in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics) and my masters (BPhil in Philosophy) at the University of Oxford.

I work primarily on Philosophy of Cognitive Science and Philosophy of Mind.  I am especially interested in understanding animal minds and their ethical significance. My work also incorporates philosophy of biology, philosophy of neuroscience, general philosophy of science, and epistemology, and environmental ethics.

In my spare time, I play cello and double bass.

I am also been involved in several outreach and public philosophy projects: I am organising a museum-based event, What is it like to be another animal, introducing animal experiences and the philosophical problems they raise to children.  And I have co-facilitated philosophical discussions for court-involved youth in New York City (with  Rethink) and prisoners in the UK (with Philosophy in Prison).  

You can follow me on google scholar, PhilPapers, or Bluesky.