Unity of Consciousness: Phenomenological and Cognitive Aspects

Unity of consciousness has been seen as a defining feature of human mind at
least since the XVII century. Such great thinkers as John Locke, Immanuel
Kant, William James or Edmund Husserl sought to explain what consciousness
is, while assuming that it is something unitary and introspectively
available. But is that so? Do we have a clear understanding of the presumed
unity?

What is unity of consciousness - a biological mechanism, a psychological
epiphenomenon or even an illusion? Hasn't cognitive neuroscience shown us
that most conscious processes have non-conscious beginnings and that it is
extremely hard to distinguish between those processes which are conscious
and those which are not? If blindsight and split-brain patients show us that
consciousness is not always unitary, what does it teach us about personal
identity?

Contemporary science of mind distinguishes three main aspects to the general
question of unity of consciousness. The first aspect concerns the self as a
unified experience persisting over time. Scientists disagree whether the
unified self supervenes on our memory and psychological experience or rather
on our bodily continuity. The second aspect is the so called binding
problem, i.e. the question how certain information is brought together in
order to produce a unified perception of an object. The third aspect of the
question is multisensory integration that takes place between senses as well
as within them and results in a unified or holistic experience that we have.

The topics to be discussed:
What is unity of consciousness and can we do without it?
Can we reduce unity of consciousness to neural mechanisms underlying it?
What is personal identity?
Does personal identity depend on unity of consciousness?
Can persons persist through time and how can they do so?
Are persons material beings?

Invited speakers:

Lynne Rudder Baker,
Distinguished Professor, Department of Philosophy
University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA

Dan Zahavi,
Professor, Department of Media, Cognition and Communication
University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Thomas Fuchs,
Professor, Head of Phenomenological Psychopathology and Psychiatry Section,
Clinic for General Psychiatry,
University of Heidelberg, Germany


Konstantin Anokhin,
Professor, Head of the Department of Neuroscience
Kurchatov Institute National Research Center, Moscow, Russia

The workshop is organized by the team of philosophers, psychologists and
neurolinguists from St. Petersburg University and will take place in the
historical center of the city, in beautiful old University lecture halls.
The workshop will be held in English and in Russian. Plenary talks will be
broadcasted online.

The local organizing committee in St. Petersburg: Danil Razeev, DSc in
Philosophy, Head of the Department of Philosophy of Science and Technology,
Tatiana Chernigovskaya, DSc in Linguistics and in Human Physiology, Head of
the Department of General Linguistics, Head of the Laboratory of Cognitive
Studies, Viktor Allakhverdov, DSc in Psychology, Head of the Department of
General Psychology.

The workshop is supported by the Russian Foundation for Humanities (project
No. 14-03-14038)

Workshop participants traveling to St. Petersburg are recommended to arrange
their travel and accommodation in advance because of the summertime. The
workshop organizers do not have the opportunity to provide support
concerning visas, tickets or accommodation.
The conference takes place at Universitetskaya Naberezhnaya, 7-9.
There are several hotels close to the location.

For more information please contact [email protected]
Workshop website