Social Ontology and Cognition Conference
2nd Call for Posters
Deadline for submissions: May 20th
OBJECTS IN MIND
First Aarhus-Paris Conference in Social Ontology and Cognition
University of Aarhus, Denmark
June 25-26, 2012
Keynote Speakers
Christopher Frith (All Souls College, Oxford)
Ruth Millikan (University of Connecticut)
John R. Searle (University of California at Berkeley)
Speakers and Commentators
Ian Apperly (Birmingham), Cristina Becchio (Turin), Brian Epstein (Tufts),
Mattia Gallotti (CNRS, Jean Nicod Institute), Sacha Bourgeois-Gironde
(Aix-Marseille & Jean Nicod Institute), Jakob Hohwy (Monash University),
Clement Levallois (Erasmus Rotterdam), Edouard Machery (Pittsburgh), John
McGraw (Aarhus University), John Michael (Aarhus), Andreas Roepstorff
(Aarhus), Joshua Skewes (Aarhus), Kristian Tylen (Aarhus).
Abstract
Social objects are objects in virtue of having the status functions we intend them to have. Some social objects, such as screwdrivers, have physical affordances that facilitate the recognition of their purpose and offer potentials for action. Others, like money, appear to depend entirely upon understanding of the intentions and attitudes that ground their social status. But if the reference of social concepts like Œmoney¹ is fixed by collective acceptance, does it depend on distinct mechanisms from those which contribute to understanding the reference of concepts of other kinds of object? What psychological and neural mechanisms, if any, are involved in the constitution, persistence and recognition of social facts? The first Aarhus-Paris conference will address this question by exploring the burgeoning theoretical and empirical literature on social objects across the sciences of mind and brain.
Research Questions to be Addressed
It has been argued that humans are predisposed and motivated to engage in joint actions with conspecifics, and that this may be due in part to a unique mechanism for sharing mental states. Is such a mechanism responsible for fixing the reference of concepts of social objects? Do we depend upon a distinct, collective mode of intentionality in order to use these concepts? What role might mindreading and other (embodied and/or interactive) components of social cognition play in sustaining the reference of these concepts? Does the conventional constitution of social objects entail that learning about them during development involves psychological processes and brain areas postulated in current research on the development of social cognition? What role is played by explicit instruction or pedagogical cues in learning the norms and conventions that enable social objects to exist? Does this make any difference for the question of whether the conventions and norms that sustain social objects are implicit and/or explicit? Do individuals with social cognition deficits, such as autism spectrum disorder, or an impaired understanding of the distinction between moral rules and conventions, have difficulties in recognizing and/or reasoning about social objects?
Call for Posters
We invite posters suitable for presentation on any topic related to the themes of the conference. Abstracts for posters not exceeding 350 words should be submitted by email to
johnmichaelaarhus@gmail.com
in .doc or .pdf format. Please include a separate cover sheet including name, poster title and affiliation. The deadline for receipt of submissions is May 20th, 2012. We will notify authors of the decision regarding posters on a rolling basis, usually within 3 days of submission.
Registration
Attendence is free of charge, but space is limited. Please register by sending an email to: johnmichaelaarhus@gmail.com
Scientific Organization
Mattia Gallotti (CNRS, Jean Nicod Institute) & John Michael (Aarhus University)
This conference is jointly funded by MindLab, Aarhus University (http://www.mindlab.au.dk/), and by the research project ‘The Neuro-turn in European Social Sciences and Humanities: Impact of neuroscience on economics, marketing and philosophy’ (NESSHI) (http://www.nesshi.eu/).
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