← Samuel Murray Philosophy

Philosophy

My research asks how creatures like us manage to act over time. A single capacity — vigilance — runs through most of it: the work of keeping track of ourselves across scattered episodes of thought and action, and of trusting ourselves enough to commit to plans at all. That core opens outward into the ethics of negligence and forgetting, the folk concept of free will, the dynamics of the wandering mind, the foundations of self-control, and the methodology of the sciences that study these things.

Research themes

Select a theme to filter the work below.

Publications

in press
Vigilance
Amaya, S., & Murray, S. — Philosophy and Phenomenological Research
Vigilance & acting over time
Companion to The nature and norms of vigilance
'25
Vigilance and mind wandering
Murray, S. — Mind \& Language (2025)
Mind-wandering & thought
Extends Can the mind wander intentionally? Extends The scientific study of passive thinking: Methods of mind wandering research
'24
Do people understand determinism? The tracking problem for measuring free will beliefs
Murray, S., Dykhuis, E., & Nadelhoffer, T. — Oxford Studies in Experimental Philosophy (2024)
Free will & the folk
Extends Intuitions about free will and the failure to comprehend determinism
'24
Negligence and self-trust
Murray, S. — Oxford Studies in Agency and Responsibility (2024)
Self-trust
Extends Responsibility and vigilance Extends The place of the trace: Negligence and responsibility
'24
Causal Power and Perfection: Descartes' Second A Posteriori Argument for the Existence of God
Murray, S. — Review of Metaphysics (2024)
History of philosophy
'24
The nature and norms of vigilance
Murray, S. — American Philosophical Quarterly (2024)
Vigilance & acting over time
Companion to Vigilance
'24
The Catch-22 of Forgetfulness: Responsibility for Mental Mistakes
Irving, Z., Murray, S., Glasser, A., & Krasich, K. — Australasian Journal of Philosophy (2024)
Negligence & responsibility
Extends Responsibility for forgetting Philosophical complement to Blame for Hum(e)an Beings (psychology)
'23
Intuitions about free will and the failure to comprehend determinism
Nadelhoffer, T., Murray, S., & Dykhuis, E. — Erkenntnis (2023)
Free will & the folk
Inspired Do people understand determinism? The tracking problem for measuring free will beliefs
'23
What's inside is all that counts? The contours of everyday thinking about self-control
Bermudez, J.P., Murray, S., Chartrand, L., & Barbosa, S. — Review of Philosophy and Psychology (2023)
Self-control & cognitive control
'23
Purity is linked to cooperation but not necessarily through self-control
Murray, S., Amaya, S., & Jimenez-Leal, W. — Behavioral and Brain Sciences (2023)
Moral cognition & its paradigms
Philosophical complement to Within Your Rights (psychology)
'23
Bringing Self-control into the Future
Murray, S., & Henne, P. — Advances in experimental philosophy of action (2023)
Self-control & cognitive control
Philosophical complement to The nature and norms of vigilance
'23
Introduction to Advances in Experimental Philosophy of Action
Murray, S., & Henne, P. — Advances in Experimental Philosophy of Action (2023)
Other
'23
Advances in experimental philosophy of action
Murray, S., & Henne, P. — Bloomsbury (edited volume) (2023)
Other
'23
Not what I expected: Feeling of surprise differentially mediates effect of personal control on attributions of free will and responsibility
Murray, S., & Nadelhoffer, T. — Review of Philosophy and Psychology (2023)
Free will & the folk
Companion to Intuitions about free will and the failure to comprehend determinism
'22
Can the mind wander intentionally?
Murray, S., & Krasich, K. — Mind \& Language (2022)
Mind-wandering & thought
'22
The scientific study of passive thinking: Methods of mind wandering research
Murray, S., Irving, Z.C., & Krasich, K. — Neuroscience and Philosophy (2022)
Mind-wandering & thought
'22
Times imagined and remembered
De Brigard, F., Khoudary, M., & Murray, S. — Temporal asymmetries in philosophy \& psychology (2022)
Carving the mind
'21
Piercing the smoke screen: Dualism, free will, and Christianity
Murray, S., Murray, E., & Nadelhoffer, T. — Journal of cognition and culture (2021)
Free will & the folk
'21
These confabulations are guaranteed to improve your marriage! Toward a teleological theory of confabulation
Murray, S., & Finocchiaro, P. — Synthese (2021)
Self-control & cognitive control
'21
The neurocognitive mechanisms of responsibility: a framework for normatively relevant neuroscience
Murray, S., & De Brigard, F. — Developments in Neuroethics and bioethics (2021)
Carving the mind
Philosophical complement to Vigilance and Control
'20
The place of the trace: Negligence and responsibility
Murray, S. — Review of Philosophy and Psychology (2020)
Negligence & responsibility
Extends Responsibility and vigilance
'20
Vigilance and Control
Murray, S., & Vargas, M. — Philosophical Studies (2020)
Vigilance & acting over time
Extends Responsibility and vigilance
'20
A case for conservatism about animal consciousness
Murray, S. — Journal of Consciousness Studies (2020)
Carving the mind
'19
Responsibility for forgetting
Murray, S., Murray, E.D., Stewart, G., Sinnott-Armstrong, W., & De Brigard, F. — Philosophical Studies (2019)
Negligence & responsibility
Complements Responsibility and vigilance
'18
Why value values?
Samuel, M. — Behavioral and Brain Sciences (2018)
Negligence & responsibility
'18
Reference fiction, and omission
Murray, S. — Synthese (2018)
Other
'17
Responsibility and vigilance
Murray, S. — Philosophical Studies (2017)
Vigilance & acting over time
Inspired Vigilance and Control
'17
Leibnizian Deliberation
Murray, S. — Quaestiones Disputatae (2017)
History of philosophy
Companion to An early theory of contingency in Leibniz
'16
O'Connor's argument for indeterminism
Murray, S. — Philosophical Explorations (2016)
Free will & the folk
'15
An early theory of contingency in Leibniz
Murray, S. — Studia Leibnitiana (2015)
History of philosophy

Book reviews

'22
Consciousness, objectivity, and bias in comparative psychology: Kristin Andrews How to study animal minds
(2022)
'20
Emergence: Towards a New Metaphysics and Philosophy of Science by Mariusz Tabaczek
The Review of Metaphysics (2020)
'18
Irena Backus. Leibniz: Protestant Theologian
Journal of Analytic Theology (2018)
'18
Oxford Studies in Agency and Responsibility, edited by David Shoemaker
journal of moral philosophy (2018)
'18
Consciousness and Freedom: The Inseparability of Thinking and Doing
The Review of Metaphysics (2018)
'16
Randolph Clarke: Omissions: Responsibility, Agency, and Metaphysics
Faith and Philosophy (2016)
'14
Book Review: Leibniz, God, and Necessity. By Michael V. Griffin
(2014)

Email me for papers or drafts.