_PhD in Philosophy _
Grant available at the Institute of Philosophy II Ruhr-University Bochum

At the Institute of Philosophy II of the Ruhr-University in Bochum a grant for a PhD student is 
offered under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Albert Newen (Philosophy). The grant is connected with 
a research project concerning "Concept Formation in Humans and Animals":
The area of research is the Philosophy of Mind and Language. The dissertation could be developed 
in the area of discussing questions like to following:

- What does it mean to possess concepts?

- To which extend are concepts embodied?

- Do we possess different kinds of representation involved when contrasting everyday concepts (like
ball, puppet) with abstract or scientific concepts (like justice, gen, atom)?

-  Concepts are building blocks of thoughts and they are expressed by linguistic terms: how can we 
adequately characterize singular thoughts?

- Concepts are also used in belief ascriptions: how do we account for idiosyncratic ways of 
understanding a concept and the public understanding of concepts in a belief ascription?

Preconditions: The applicants are expected to have an excellent M.A. (or Staatsexamen degree) in 
Philosophy. They should have a very good expertise in the area of Philosophy of Mind or Philosophy 
of Language and good expertise in at least one of the following areas: Cognitive Psychology, 
Behavioral Biology, Artificial Intelligence or Brain Research. The applicant must not speak German 
at the time of application but be willing to learn German such that everyday conversation can be 
realized soon in German. Candidates should be prepared to participate in weekly meetings of the 
research group of Prof. Newen.

The grant can start at 1st of April 2012 (not later than 1st of July 2012). The grant of 1.200 Euro
is available for a period of three years (with a test period of one year).
Please submit your applications with the usual documents (CV; copies of all certificates; a list 
of publications, talks, conference attended and teaching experience -- but without copies of your 
writings) via email until 10th of March 2012 to (any paper submissions cannot be send back):

Prof. Dr. Albert Newen
Institut für Philosophie, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universitätsstr. 150, D-
44791 Bochum
albert.newen@rub.de

Further Information on:
http://www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/philosophy/staff/newen

--
Ruhr-Universität Bochum
Institut für Philosophie II
Sekretariat Prof. Newen
GA 3/153
44801 Bochum
Tel.: 0234/32-28339
Fax: 0234/32-14963
Email: nicole.bremkens@rub.de
        sekretariat-newen@rub.de