Dear all The second CamPoS seminar of Lent term will be given by Jonathan Birch <http://personal.lse.ac.uk/birchj1/ <http://personal.lse.ac.uk/birchj1/>>, Associate Professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Details as follows:
Time: Wednesday 5 February, 1-2:30pm Place: Seminar Room 2, Department of History and Philosophy of Science (Free School Lane, CB2 3RH) Title: The search for invertebrate consciousness Abstract: There is no agreement on whether any invertebrates (e.g. insects, spiders, worms, octopuses, crabs) are conscious and no agreement on a methodology that could settle the issue. How can the debate move forward? I distinguish three broad types of approach: theory-heavy, theory-neutral and theory-light. I argue that the theory-heavy and theory-neutral approaches face serious problems, motivating a middle path: the theory-light approach. At the core of the theory-light approach is a minimal theoretical commitment about the relation between consciousness and cognition that is compatible with many specific theories of consciousness: the hypothesis that conscious perception of a stimulus facilitates, relative to unconscious perception, a cluster of cognitive abilities in relation to that stimulus. This “facilitation hypothesis” can productively guide inquiry into invertebrate consciousness. What's needed? At this stage, not more theory, and not more undirected data gathering. What's needed is a systematic search for consciousness-linked cognitive abilities, their relationships to each other, and their sensitivity to masking. I illustrate the "theory-light" approach using the example of bees. Full information about the talk is here: https://talks.cam.ac.uk/talk/index/132112 <https://talks.cam.ac.uk/talk/index/132112> All details for CamPoS are available at https://www.hps.cam.ac.uk/news-events/seminars-reading-groups/campos <https://www.hps.cam.ac.uk/news-events/seminars-reading-groups/campos> You can also follow us at https://twitter.com/CamPhilSci <https://twitter.com/CamPhilSci> Upcoming CamPoS talks: Feb 12 - Bryan W Roberts (LSE): 'The good news about killing people’ Feb 26 - Adrian Currie (Exeter): 'Epistemic Engagement, Aesthetic Value & Scientific Practice’ Mar 4 - Petri Ylikoski (Helsinki): 'Learning from case studies’ Mar 11 - Carina Prunkl (Oxford) May 6 - Haixin Dang (Leeds) May 13 - Angela Breitenbach (Philosophy, Cambridge) May 20 - Jouni-Matti Kuukkanen (Oulu) The HPS department can provide assisted step-free access to Seminar Room 2 by arrangement via the back door to the Whipple Museum (which has a lift that can take a person to all levels) and also the Library (which also has assisted lift access to all levels). For further details please contact the HPS Reception <hps-ad...@lists.cam.ac.uk <mailto:hps-ad...@lists.cam.ac.uk>>, or consult the university's Building Access Guide <https://www.disability.admin.cam.ac.uk/building-access-guide <https://www.disability.admin.cam.ac.uk/building-access-guide>>. All are welcome. All the best Matt Matt Farr • Teaching & Research Associate in Philosophy of Science University of Cambridge • Department of History & Philosophy of Science Free School Lane | Cambridge | CB2 3RH w mattfarr.co.uk <http://www.mattfarr.co.uk/> | e mw...@cam.ac.uk <mailto:mw...@cam.ac.uk> | t 01223334559 _____________________________________________________ To unsubscribe from the CamPhilEvents mailing list, or change your membership options, please visit the list information page: http://bit.ly/CamPhilEvents List archive: https://lists.cam.ac.uk/pipermail/phil-events/ Please note that CamPhilEvents doesn't accept email attachments. See the list information page for further details and suggested alternatives.
