Pierrick Bourrat
SidneyMeet Pierrick Bourrat, a specialist in the philosophy of evolution in Sydney...
Studies, readings, projects... Here is what he has to say!
Could you introduce yourself? What are you currently doing?
I am a research fellow in philosophy of science at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. I specialise in the philosophy of biology, and more specifically in the philosophy of evolutionary biology.
After my bac S, I did a veterinary preparatory class (which no longer exists). Having failed the competitive entrance exam, I switched to a degree in biology at Blaise Pascal University in Clermont-Ferrand, then went on to a Master's in Biology and Evolutionary Ecology at the University of Montpellier.
With a passion for evolutionary psychology, I was fortunate enough to do my Master's research placement at the Institute of Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Oxford, working on the evolution of religious beliefs — a subject I knew virtually nothing about, but which proved tremendously stimulating. Having a strong taste for concepts, I gradually moved towards more fundamental questions: "What is chance in biology?", "What is a gene?", "What is a level of selection?", "Is the analogy between biological and cultural evolution a valid one?" — and many others.
After returning from Oxford, I completed a second Master's in philosophy of science in Paris under Philippe Huneman. Then, having failed to secure a doctoral scholarship in France, I did my PhD at the University of Sydney. I have been working on the same kinds of questions ever since.
What memories do you have of your studies and your teachers?
Honestly, I do not have particularly positive memories of my studies in France. My PhD in Sydney, on the other hand, is a very positive memory indeed.
I regard the grandes écoles system — the so-called "royal road" in France — as deeply problematic. This 'elitist' system selects for a certain family background and schooling rather than for the most deserving individuals. Having grown up in a fairly modest single-parent family on the outskirts of Saint-Étienne, I had only a vague sense of the French two-track system. I did not know, for instance, what the École Normale Supérieure was, since no one had ever explained it to me — which is quite something for a country whose motto includes 'Equality': equality begins with equal access to information.
I then made several unsuccessful attempts to obtain a doctoral grant in France, which led me into a kind of 'exile' — first to the UK, then to Australia. The reasons for these failures, which I only learnt later, had nothing to do with the quality of my work. They were either political (different institutes jostling to secure PhD students) or came down to the fact that, coming from biology, I was not considered a "real" philosopher by some in the profession. I will spare you the details, but I find these reasons deplorable and unworthy of the republican values taught in schools and displayed so prominently throughout French academic institutions — perhaps to conceal a considerably less laudable reality.
Despite those rather difficult years, I have very fond memories of certain teachers and mentors: Jacques Valiergue, who teaches biology in preparatory classes at the Lycée agricole Louis Pasteur–Marmilhat near Clermont-Ferrand; Philippe Lachaume, lecturer in evolutionary biology at the University of Clermont-Ferrand; Guila Ganem, researcher in evolutionary biology at the University of Montpellier; and Nicolas Baumard, researcher in cognitive sciences at the Institut Jean Nicod. In Sydney, my thesis supervisor and now collaborator Paul Griffiths has, in addition to his sharp wit and sound advice, always been extraordinarily generous towards me and allowed me almost complete freedom throughout my doctorate.
Which philosophical book were you particularly passionate about? Is there an author you fell in love with at first sight?
When I was studying biology, I tried my hand at the great philosophical thinkers. The result, on the whole, was frustration. Without context, it is very hard to grasp the thought of an author whose aim is very often to propose a new way of understanding the world. Things changed when I came to the so-called 'analytic' tradition, where the philosophical project tends to be more modest — focusing on a single well-defined question — but where the aim is to answer it simply and clearly.
I should say, however, that the book that struck me most was not written by a philosopher but by a biologist: Richard Dawkins. The book is The Selfish Gene, in which the author argues that living beings can be understood as "vehicles" steered by their genes. Far from being science fiction — it is grounded in serious academic work — this book genuinely turned my intellectual trajectory upside down.
What are your projects and research interests?
I have several research projects under way. One aims to shed light on major transitions in evolution — for example, the transition from single-celled individuals such as bacteria or paramecia to multicellular individuals such as ourselves. My approach draws on the mathematical equations used to describe evolutionary change in a population. In another project, my team, led by Paul Griffiths, is working to update the 'etiological' notion of biological functions: a structure has function X if X is the product of natural selection. The classic example is the heart: its function is to pump blood because pumping blood is what natural selection has favoured — individuals whose hearts fail to pump leave no descendants. Although useful, this notion only holds for relatively simple evolutionary dynamics, and we are working to refine it for more complex cases.
My other research is published in academic papers — mostly in English — which can be found on my personal website.
Thank you, Pierrick, for sharing your story!
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