Sam W. McGrath

I am a Ph.D. candidate in the Philosophy Department ​at Brown University, writing a dissertation under the ​supervision of Richard Kimberley Heck, Chris Hill, ​Elizabeth Miller, and Josh Schechter. I am also a ​member of the Brown Language & Thought Lab and ​was admitted to the Open Graduate Education ​program, through which I will soon complete a ​simultaneous Sc.M. in the department of Cognitive, ​Linguistic, and Psychological Sciences. Before Brown, ​I attained an M.Phil from Trinity College, Dublin, ​where I worked with James Miller and James Levine, ​and did my B.A. at the University of Chicago. ​Originally from Miami Beach, Florida, I spend my free ​time at the beach or playing basketball.

Research Statement

My core interests lie in the philosophy of language and mind, with a particular focus on the language ​of thought hypothesis, compositionality, and the multiple realizability of the mind. I have followed ​these interests far afield, with research projects in cognitive science, the philosophy of artificial ​intelligence, and the history of analytic philosophy. Much of my recent work centers on evaluating the ​significance of the deep learning revolution from a philosophical and psychological perspective. I ​have co-authored papers on a number of related issues with Roman Feiman, Ellie Pavlick, and Jake ​Russin. My historical scholarship has led to close engagement with the writings of Frege, Wittgenstein, ​Carnap, Quine, and Donald Davidson. I believe that studying the analytic tradition has real value as a ​source of insight into the foundational questions about meaning and mind that the emergence of ​deep neural networks has forced back to the surface.

Publications

(Forthcoming) From Frege to chatGPT: Compositionality in Language, Cognition, and Deep Neural Networks

Neuroscience & Philosophy (MIT Press), Jacob Russin*, Sam Whitman McGrath*, Danielle Williams, Lotem Elber-Dorozko

(2024) Is Human Compositionality Meta-Learned?

Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Jacob Russin, Sam Whitman McGrath, Ellie Pavlick, Michael Frank

(2024) How Can Deep Neural Networks Inform Theory in Psychological Science?

Current Directions in Cognitive Science, Sam Whitman McGrath*, Jacob Russin*, Ellie Pavlick, Roman Feiman

(2024) Multiple Realizability and the Rise of Deep Learning

Proceedings of the Cognitive Science Society, Sam Whitman McGrath, Jacob Russin

(2023) On 'Ontology': Analyzing the Carnap-Quine Debate as a Case of Metalinguistic Negotiation

Journal for the History of Analytical Philosophy, Sam Whitman McGrath

(2023) Properties of LoTs: The Footprints or the Bear Itself?

Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Sam Whitman McGrath*, Jacob Russin*, Ellie Pavlick, Roman Feiman

(2019) Envisioning a Worthwhile Critique of Idealism: Reflections on the Frege-Wittgenstein Correspondence

Proceedings of the Austrian Ludwig Wittgenstein Society, Sam Whitman McGrath (pdf available on request)