Essentialism in the Human Mind: Perspectives from Philosophy and Psychology

According to the Psychological Essentialism hypothesis, humans view some categories as having an underlying essence that explains members' shared traits and behaviors. This idea has been central to research in philosophy and psychology, shedding light on our conceptual developmental trajectory, links to social hierarchies, and impacts on phenomena like stereotyping. Psychologists have explored essentialism's contextual influences and cognitive consequences, while philosophers have applied these findings across fields such as philosophy of mind, epistemology, language, and social philosophy. Despite this progress, limited interdisciplinary interaction hinders a full understanding of essentialism’s complexities.

This conference aims to bridge the gap by fostering collaboration between scholars from philosophy and psychology. Our goal is to create a lasting consortium for interdisciplinary research on essentialism. This two-day event will feature symposium-style talks, key discussions on essentialism, vision-planning sessions for future collaborations, and social events to build connections. 

Date: April 26, 2024 

Location: W245 South College, UMass Amherst

Organizing Committee: Erik Cheries, Jenna Croteau, Jordan Legaspi, Tara Mandalaywala, Eleonore Neufeld, Marina Perez del Valle, Ece Senbas

Attendance is free, but you must register! Space is limited, so please register by April 1, 2025.

We invite poster submissions. Send us your abstract (word limit: 750 words) by March 15, 2025 via email to [email protected]. 

Planning your stay: We have reserved a block at Hotel UMass for conference attendees. To reserve a room at the reduced conference rate, please do this here: https://www.reseze.net/servlet/SendPage?hotelid=1760&skipfirstpage=true&page=840778 

    Confirmed Speakers

Joshua Knobe (Yale)
Tara Mandalaywala (Boston U)
Eleonore Neufeld (UMass Amherst)
Rebecca Peretz-Lange (Vassar)
Sandeep Prasada (Hunter College, CUNY)
Marjorie Rhodes (NYU)

    Program

The details of the program are TBD.  The official conference will be a one-day event held on Saturday April 26th from 9 to 6. We will have a full-day program including an early career scholars poster session on work related to essentialism. The day will also include a lunch and networking spaces for graduate students, postdocs, faculty, and staff. Date: April 26, 2024