Deadline Submission: 15th March 2013

Topoi 2013 / 3 (September issue 2013)

Guest Editor:

Dr. Nivedita Gangopadhyay

Center for Mind, Brain and Cognitive Evolution

Ruhr-University Bochum

Germany

http://www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/philosophy/mibra/gaeste_en.html

The interdisciplinary field of social cognition is currently witnessing the emergence of a number of theories which stress the importance of understanding the other’s embodied intersubjective engagement prior to gaining a theoretical understanding of the other as a “minded” being (e.g. Gallese 2001, 2003, 2005, Goldman & Gallese 1998, Gallagher 2005, 2008, Rizzolatti & Sinigaglia 2010, Zahavi 2010). These theories may be broadly divided into two groups regarding what enables a basic understanding of others as minded beings in embodied intersubjective interactions that do not necessarily draw upon mindreading by theorising. First, simulation theory approaches (e.g. Gallese 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, Goldman 2006, Iacoboni 2009) claim that embodied simulation enabled by mirroring mechanisms underlies a primitive form of one’s understanding of the other as a minded being. Second, an emerging group of theories (e.g. Gallagher 2005, 2008, Zahavi 2008, 2010, 2012) derive inspiration from works in the phenomenological tradition to claim that one’s primary understanding of others as minded beings is enabled by a type of “direct experiential access” which needs neither any form of embodied simulation nor any theorising. To further complicate matters, both simulation theory approaches and phenomenological approaches claim that one’s ability to access other minds without theorising and inference is enabled by the phenomenon of empathy. However, there seems to be little agreement as to what exactly the term “empathy” stands for in recent debates in social cognition. There is some consensus that “empathy” as used in contemporary accounts of social cognition is to be distinguished from notions of sympathy and emotional contagion. But beyond this theories using the notion of empathy widely diverge as to what exactly the term “empathy” means and the nature of the phenomenon of empathy. The notion nonetheless plays a crucial role in grounding a non-theorising form of understanding other minds in embodied approaches to social cognition.

The debates centring around the notion of empathy in embodied approaches to social cognition bring to the fore, on one hand, questions about the nature of a basic form of understanding other minds prior to mentalizing by theorising (e.g. Decety & Meyer 2008, Decety 2011, de Vignemont & Singer 2006, Stueber 2006, Zahavi 2008, 2010, 2012), and on the other hand, questions about the scope and validity of embodied cognition approaches to social cognition including how best to situate embodiment within richer social understanding encompassing culture and context (e.g. Goldman & de Vignemont 2009, Gallagher & Hutto 2008, Hutto 2008, Menary 2010, Spaulding 2010).

Thus the special issue proposes to address questions such as the following: Read the rest of this entry »

Processwork meets Science – Focus Empathy

Raymond Gibbs is currently the Chair of the Department of Psychology at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Gibbs’ research interests are in the fields of experimental psycholinguistics and cognitive science. His work concerns a range of theoretical issues, ranging from questions about the role of embodied experience in thought and language, to looking at people’s use and understanding of figurative language (e.g., metaphor, irony, idioms). Gibbs is especially interested in bodily experience and linguistic meaning. Much of Gibbs’ research is motivated by theories of meaning in philosophy, linguistics, and comparative literature. Most generally, his research interests have wide interdisciplinary application to all fields concerned with mind, meaning and interpretation.

4th Global Conference

Tuesday 17th September – Thursday 19th September 2013
Oxford, United Kingdom

www.inter-disciplinary.net

Call for Paper – Deadline: Friday 5th April 2013

Theatre and the many varied expressions of performance practice are by their nature inter-disciplinary forms of art. They draw ideas and symbolisms from diverse theoretical and creative fields of humanities, making historical references and links, presenting social relations, putting forward great ideas and dilemmas of the mind, highlighting aspects of the human personality and employing all existing art-forms in order to create a performance as a whole. Performance practice, whether in a theatrical space, site-specific space, or as a street or public performance of any nature, can be examined from the artistic point of view, but also from a cultural, a sociological, a historical, a psychological, a semiological, an anthropological, as well as from an educational perspective. The term “performance practice” refers to the interface within which the work of the director, performer, movement director and choreographer, scenographer (set and costume designer), musical director, composer, lighting designer and sound designer meet. It also includes all aspects and issues involving the creative process, from the initial concept to the final realization and presentation to an audience.

The aim of this conference is to develop discussion with a focus on the visual aspects of performance brought up by visual and spatial artists and researchers in various performance disciplines and practices.

Papers, workshops, presentations and pre-formed panels are invited on any of the following themes:

Read the rest of this entry »

July 18-21 2013, Brighton, England

Abstract Submissions Deadline March 1 2013

Do, 10.01. – Sa, 12.01.2013

David S. Miall, “Too soon transplanted” – Coleridge and the forms of dislocation 2008. 

David S. Miall, Foregrounding and feeling in response to narrative 2008. 

Joanna Gavins, Peter Stockwell, About the heart, where it hurt exactly, and how often 2012. 

Peter Stockwell, Changing Minds in Narrative 2011. 

Peter Stockwell, The cognitive poetics of literary resonance 2009. 

From YaleNews Portal

A new program dedicated to promoting cross-disciplinary dialogue and collaboration — the Franke Program in Science and the Humanities — will launch in November with a lecture and panel discussion on the topic of violence, a central issue for both fields. The inaugural events, which are free and open to the public, are sponsored by the Whitney Humanities Center (WHC).

The lecture, titled “The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined,” will be delivered by renowned experimental psychologist Steven Pinker on Thursday, Nov. 1, at 5 p.m. in the WHC auditorium, 53 Wall St. This event will be followed by a reception.

On Friday, Nov. 2, at 2 p.m., a panel discussion will examine the question “How Should We Think About Violence?” This discussion, which will take place in the WHC auditorium, will feature Pinker and Yale faculty members Stephen Darwall (philosophy), Inderpal Grewal (women’s, gender, and sexuality studies), Stathis Kalyvas (political science), and Laurie Santos (psychology). It will be moderated by Richard O. Prum, the William Robertson Coe Professor of Ornithology and director of the Franke Program. Read the rest of this entry »

Antonella Pasculli, Imputabilità e minori alla luce delle neuroscienze . 

Lisa Zunshine, Style Brings In Mental States 2011. 

William L. Benzon, The Evolution of Narrative and the Self 1993. 

Craig A. Hamilton, Toward a Cognitive Rethoric of Imagism 2004. 

Leonid Perlovsky, The Role of Music in Evolution of the Mind and Consciousness . 

Leonid Perlovsky, Music. The First Principle 2005. 

Emery Schubert, Caroline Palmer, Steven R. Livingstone, Emotional Response to Musical Repetition 2011.

The British Society for Literature and Science invites proposals for papers and panels to be delivered at its eighth annual conference to be held in Cardiff, 11-13 April 2013, by Cardiff University and the University of Glamorgan.

The BSLS Conference does not have a theme (as it its usual practise) but especially welcomes proposals on the state of the field of literature and science as well as its relation to other fields. This year we would be particularly interested to receive proposals that reflect upon the interdisciplinary study of literature and science in the context of the debate about the present position of the humanities in academia. However, the Society remains committed to supporting proposals on all aspects of literature and science across all periods.

Proposals for papers of 15-20 minutes should be sent in the body of the email text (no attachments, please), to bsls2013@yahoo.co.uk with the subject line ‘BSLS 2013 abstract’. Submissions should include the title of the paper, an abstract of no more than 300 words, a maximum of 3 keywords (placed at the end of the abstract), and the name and contact details of the speaker.

Closing date for submissions: 7 December 2012. Read the rest of this entry »