Graduate and Post-Doctoral Conference:  PPNB 2007

Philosophy of Psychology, Neuroscience, and Biology 

Call for papers and registration

Saturday 24 March 2007, 9:30 am — 7:15 pm

Venue: The Orangery, Goldney Hall, Lower Clifton Hill, Clifton , University of Bristol   (www.goldneyhall.com)

Sponsors:

CONTACT Bristol, a project on consciousness in interaction with natural and social environments, funded by an AHRC grant to Prof. Susan Hurley under the ESF CNCC initiative ( http://www.media.unisi.it/cirg/contact)

McDonnell Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, Oxford

Senior guest speakers:

Dan Sperber, Director of Research at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), Paris

Title: Mindreading, comprehension, and epistemic vigilance in an evolutionary and developmental perspective

Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London

Title: The social brain

Abstract: Humans crave the company of others and suffer profoundly if temporarily 
isolated from society. The brain has evolved to deal with social
communication and we are increasingly learning more about the
neurophysiological basis of social cognition. In this talk I will focus
on two components of social cognition: how we understand others' actions 
and how we attribute mental states to others. I will mention how these
abilities are impaired in autism. Finally I will describe recent
research that has investigated how the social brain develops during
adolescence.

The remaining papers will be by graduate students and post-doctoral researchers (doctoral work completed no earlier than 2002) in philosophy and in the relevant sciences.  See information about submission below. Submission deadline:  9 February 2007

Background and Rationale:

Following the success of PPNB 2005 in Oxford, the CONTACT project is hosting PPNB 2007 in Bristol and PPNB 2008 in Edinburgh. 

We aim to bring together young researchers interested in mind-world relations, to address philosophical issues raised by empirical work in psychology, neuroscience, biology, and other life sciences.  Relevant topics include:  consciousness, perception, emotion, covert processing and related dissociations, ecological or embodied approaches to the mind, representation in neural networks, social cognition, motor control and voluntary action, simulation theory, evolutionary psychology, issues of group selection, the relation of thought to language, mental disorders, the evolution of language, animal minds, modularity, rationality, cognitive and biological issues concerning complexity or emergence, dynamic versus computational views of cognition, and so on.

We welcome participation and paper submissions by both philosophers and scientists; papers should be of a character suitable for interdisciplinary discussion.  Numbers will be limited to 60 to facilitate discussion.  Priority for places will be given to research students and those who completed doctoral work no earlier than 2002 .

Lunch, coffee/tea, and a glass of wine afterward will be provided for all participants. 

There is a registration fee of £20; payment by cheque will be requested prior to the conference.

Please note:  Those attending the conference will be expected to make their own arrangements for dinner and accommodation as needed. 

Form for registration and submission of papers:

Please complete this form in order to register for the conference without giving a talk, or if you wish to submit a paper.

Talks should be 30 minutes.  To submit a paper, please email the form below with a précis of your talk of about 1000 words.

Your name:

Your email address:

Your primary research topics:

Degree you are currently registered for:

Department:

University:

If not currently registered for a degree, your highest obtained degree:

Department:

University:

Year degree obtained:

Your current appointment:

Department:

University: 

Your telephone number:

Your postal address:

Do you wish to submit a paper?

Or to register for the conference without submitting a paper? 

[We will not be able to inform people whether they have a non-speaker place at the conference until the date for submission acceptances, 23 February, since only then will we know how many places are available for non-speakers.  Please ensure that if you are given a place at the conference and cannot attend that you inform us as soon as possible so that we can offer your place to someone else.]

If you submit a paper and it is not accepted as a talk, would you like to register to attend the conference in any case without giving a talk?

Title of your submission/talk:

Which disciplines does it draw on primarily, or to which is it most relevant?

Will you need Powerpoint?

Will you need an overhead projector?

(Please use one of these rather than a slide projector.)

Please supply a 1000 word précis of your 30 minute talk.  Please state your main claim and provide a clear outline of your overall argument.  Significantly shorter or longer submissions may be disadvantaged.

 
Please send this completed form and all enquiries to:

phil-ppnb2007@bristol.ac.uk

For the attention of Zoe Drayson, PPNB 2007 Conference Organizer 

(NB: This email address is live from 23 January 2007; please do not use the reply function instead.)

Submissions and registrations accepted from: 23 January 2007

Submission deadline:  9 February 2007

Acceptances by:  23 February 2007

Registrations and submissions will be acknowledged; if you do not receive an acknowledgement please let us know as your first message may have gone astray.