XIV PHILOSOPHY OF BIOLOGY AND COGNITIVE SCIENCES (PBCS) WORKSHOP
UNED (MADRID\, SPAIN)
18&ndash\;19 JUNE\, 2026
https://sites.google.com/view/xivpbcs/home
\nThis is a 2026 Off-Year ISHPSSB Workshop.
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Enara Garcí\;a (Syddansk Universitet)
Alejandro Fá\;bregas-Tejeda (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven)
José\; Antonio Pé\;rez-Escobar (Universidad Nacional de Educació\;n a Distancia)
SCHEDULE
\nDay 1 - 18 June 2026 - Sala B UNED Humanidades building
\n08:30-09:00
Registration &\; welcoming
09:00-09:30
CRISTIAN SABORIDO
Universidad Nacional de Educació\;n a Distancia (UNED)
09:30-10:05
DAVID SÁ\;NCHEZ
Universidad de Granada (UGR)
Teleology Without Representation: Meaning and Function in Ecological Psychology
10:05-10:40
ELIAS COHEN
É\;cole des hautes é\;tudes en sciences sociales / Institut Jean-Nicod (EHESS / Jean-Nicod Paris)
Situating mental representation: Perry&rsquo\;s &ldquo\;Thought without representation&rdquo\; in an enactivist context
10:40-11:15
ANDREAS T. POMMER
Kø\;benhavns Universitet (KU)
Population-Level Representations and Computations Afford Causal Explanations
11:15-11:30
Coffee Break
11:30-12:05
AINHOA RODRIGUEZ-MUGURUZA
Universidad del Paí\;s Vasco / Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea (UPV/EHU)
Menstrual Health as Rhythmic Plasticity
12:05-12:40
REBECCA R. CUCINIELLO
Università\; di Genova (UniGe)
Integrating plasticity and teleology: lessons from Ernst Mayr&rsquo\;s somatic programs
12:40-14:10
KEYNOTE SPEAKER: ENARA GARCÍ\;A
Syddansk Universitet (SDU)
The Path-Dependent Mind: Individuation\, Vulnerability\, and the Ontogenesis of Mental Disorder
14:10-16:00
Lunch
16:00-16:35
MAYO PINTO-CANDENAS
Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)
Ambivalencia Funcional de los Sí\;ntomas Psiquiá\;tricos: el caso de la anorexia nerviosa
16:35-17:10
ASTRID RENG
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitä\;t Mü\;nchen (LMU Munich)
Mental health and options for mental action
17:10-17:45
JAMES TURNER
Umeå\; universitet (Umeå\;)
Low Mood\, Proper Function\, and Dysfunction: The Case Against Depression as a Natural Kind
17:45-18:20
BENEDETTA COGO
University of Wollongong (UOW)
Keeping it rational in the philosophy of psychiatry
Day 2 - 19 June 2026 - Sala A UNED Humanidades building
FRIDAY 19 JUNE ~ Sala A
08:30-09:00
Registration &\; welcoming
09:00-10:30
KEYNOTE SPEAKER: ALEJANDRO FÁ\;BREGAS-TEJEDA
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven)
Ethospaces and the Comparative Study of Behavior
10:30-11:05
TOMMASO ZORZINI
Università\; degli Studi di Milano (UniMi)
Reciprocal causation in EES is still unidirectional and diachronic
11:05-11:40
CARLOS ESTEBAN-JIMÉ\;NEZ
Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)
The cognitive dimension of experiential niche construction: an epistemological problem?
11:40-11:55
Coffee Break
11:55-12:30
LUCIA C. NECO
Universidad de Murcia (UMU)
The Prospect of Plant Sociality
12:30-13:05
ADEX IZQUIERDO
Universitat de Valè\;ncia (UV)
Offline information transmission: A teleofunctional hybrid account for mnemonic episodic reference
13:05-13:40
MEGAN H. TODD
Sveučili&scaron\;te u Rijeci (Rijeka)
Communicating Science Under Uncertainty: Hedging and Epistemic Function in Animal Cognition Research
13:40-14:15
MIGUEL GRAMAGE
Universitat de Valè\;ncia (UV)
Specification in Use: A Modal Account of Ecological Information
14:15-16:00
Lunch
16:00-17:30
KEYNOTE SPEAKER: JOSÉ\; ANTONIO PÉ\;REZ-ESCOBAR
Universidad Nacional de Educació\;n a Distancia (UNED)
Mathematical explanations in biology: A Neo-Aristotelian proposal
CALL FOR ABSTRACTS
The Research Workshop on Philosophy of Biology and Cognitive Sciences (PBCS) invites submissions to its 14th edition\, hosted by the Universidad Nacional de Educació\;n a Distancia (UNED) in Madrid\, Spain.
Since its first edition in 2011\, the PBCS workshop encourages contributions from all areas in the philosophy of biology and in the philosophy of cognitive sciences. Submissions from both philosophers and researchers inthe biological and cognitive sciences are welcome.
SUBMISSIONS
Young researchers (Master&rsquo\;s and PhD students\, as well as scholars who defended their PhD dissertations within the last three years) are encouraged to submit their work\, present their ideas\, and participate in vibrant interdisciplinary discussions. Women and other underrepresented groups are especially encouraged to apply.
Possible topics include (but are not limited to):
- Enactive and 4E approaches to cognition\, perception\, and mental disorders
- Embodied intersubjectivity and affective dynamics in psychotherapy and social cognition
\n- Phenomenology and qualitative methods in cognitive science and mental health research
\n- Philosophical foundations of psychiatry and models of mental disorders
\n- Organism-environment relations in biological explanation and cognitive science
\n- Theoretical and conceptual perspectives on comparative biology and evolutionary theory
\n- Historical and philosophical analyses of the organism in contemporary biosciences
\n- Measurement\, modeling\, and data practices in the life and cognitive sciences
\n- Mathematical formalisation and normativity in biological and
\; \;psychological explanation
- Big data\, AI\, and methodological innovation in biology and cognitive science
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Submit an abstract of 500-700 words to xivpbcs@gmail.com \;including two separate PDF files:
1. Identified version: containing author name(s)\, affiliation(s)\, and email address.
2. Blind version: fully anonymised\, removing any information that could eveal authorship.
Abstracts may be written in English or Spanish. They must include a title\, clearly state the relevance of the topic to the workshop\, and provide a concise outline of the main arguments.
All submissions will undergo double-blind peer review by the scientific committee.
Selected presentations will be allocated 20 minutes for the talk\, followed by 10 minutes of discussion.
Deadline for submission: 1̶5̶t̶h̶ ̶J̶a̶n̶u̶a̶r̶y̶ \;1st February\, 2026 \;(deadline extended).
Notification of acceptance: 1̶s̶t̶ ̶M̶a̶r̶c̶h̶ \;16 March\, 2026 (deadline extended).