Research | PNP at Washington University in St. Louis

Perception, Language, and Space

This conference brings together some of the most eminent researchers working on human spatial cognition to discuss the interface between perceptual and linguistic representations of space and provide an insight into the future directions of research in the field. website

NEH Summer Seminar, Mind and Metaphysics

A six-week National Endowment for the Humanities Seminar on metaphysical issues in the philosophy of mind led by John Heil, 5 June - 14 July 2006. Visiting faculty will include Jaegwon Kim and William Lycan.

Fifteen participants will be chosen from among eligible applicants interested in metaphysical issues in the philosophy of mind. Early sessions of the seminar will be devoted to discussion of fundamental metaphysical themes including the nature of properties, causality, laws of nature, powers, and qualities. Later sessions will be occupied with the application of metaphysical themes to particular issues in the philosophy of mind.

Seminar stipend: $4,200.

For more information, please visit the seminar web site .

Society for Philosophy and Psychology, 32nd Annual Meeting, June 1st-4th, 2006

The SPP sponsors a four-day annual meeting, usually held on the first Thursday-Sunday of June. Meetings consist of invited lectures and symposia, contributed papers, and a Presidential address. Social events include a reception and a banquet. Information for the meeting can he found here . The schedule of talks can be found here.

Future of the mind-brain

February 27-29, 2004.

The study of the mind/brain is at an exciting stage of development. There is no theoretical consensus on how studying the brain can teach us about the mind, or of what limits there might be to such an enterprise. And in the absence of such a theoretical consensus it is difficult to know how to integrate results and theories from different areas of cognitive science and neuroscience. A small number of theoretical paradigms, such as the computational and connectionist approaches, have governed thinking about the mind/brain since the 1970s. New paradigms, such as dynamical systems theory and evolutionary psychology, have more recently been proposed. But it is far from clear how some of the most exciting contemporary research in, for example, neural imaging and computational neuroscience fits into any of these paradigms. And in the absence of a theoretical consensus, it is difficult to gain an overarching perspective on how the study of the mind/brain ought to evolve - on how we should think about the key objectives in understanding the mind/brain; determine the key problems that need to be tackled; and identify the key obstacles that need to be overcome.

intentionality and the natural mind

March 19-20, 1999.