Faces of Subjectivity. A workshop on inner awareness in the context of monistic theories of phenomenal consciousness

Keynote speakers: 

Robert J. Howell (Rice)

Anna Giustina (Valencia)

Sam Coleman (Birkbeck)

While the debate about phenomenal consciousness so far has mainly focused on the nature of the qualitative features one encounters in being conscious (e.g. the bitterness of espresso, the feel of mental effort, etc.), our workshop will focus on the nature of this encounter itself, i.e. of the special ‘inner’ awareness (Brentano, Kriegel) one seems to be afforded of one’s own qualitative states, due to which these states are ‘for’ their subject, instantiating what Joseph Levine has called ‘subjectivity’. Since it’s unclear whether and how this subjectivity of conscious states can be accounted for reductively, we view its existence as an important challenge for the main forms of monism, i.e. physicalism and Russellian monism. The aim of our workshop is to bring together leading thinkers working on inner, or ‘subjective’, awareness, with those who defend various forms of monism, and address the ‘subjectivity challenge’ in a systematic manner, examining its viability and significance in the broader context of consciousness studies.

Program:

Thursday, September 10

14:00–15:30 Anna Giustina (Valencia), “The Structure of Inner Acquaintance”

15:30–15:50 coffee break

15:50–16:35 Jacopo Pallagrosi (Liège), “The Acquaintance Trilemma: Knowledge, Consciousness, and Mental Qualities”

16:35–17:20 Maik Niemeck (Marburg), “Adverbialism about Inner Awareness is Feasible”

Friday, September 11

9:30–11:00 Sam Coleman (Birkbeck College, University of London), “Transparency and the Reduction of Consciousness”

11:00–11:20 coffee break

11:20–12:05 Adriana Renero (UNAM/CUNY Graduate Center), “Kripke and Lewis on Subjective Character and de se Beliefs”

12:05–13:35 lunch

13:35–14:20 Rituparna Roy (Porto), “The Experiential ‘I’: Subjectivity Without the Selfhood in Buddhist-Brentanian Account of Reflexivity, Intentionality and Consciousness”

14:20–15:05 Andrea Pace Giannotta (Niccolò Cusano University, Rome), “Radically Embodied Panqualityism and the Mind/Flesh Identity Thesis”

15:05–15:25 coffee break

15:25–16:10 Jacek Jarocki (John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin), “A Farewell to Descartes: Epistemological Monism and Panqualityism”

16:10–16:55 Jakub Mihálik (Czech Academy of Sciences), “Inner Awareness, Intimacy, and the Naturalization Challenge”

19:00 conference dinner

Saturday, September 12

9:30–11:00 Robert J. Howell (Rice), “The Epistemic Aspect of Consciousness”

11:00–11:20 coffee break

11:20–12:05 Alberto Barbieri (University Vita-Salute San Raffaele), “From Intimacy to Qualitative Character: A Deeper Case for the Acquaintance Theory of Consciousness”

12:05–13:35 lunch

13:35–14:20 Milan Zeman (Charles University), “Is Inner Awareness Sufficient for State Consciousness?”

14:20–15:05 Fatimaezzahra Abid (Mohammed V University), “The Presence of the Self: Ibn ‘Arabī on Operative Subjectivity and the Failure of Representationalist Monism”

15:05–15:25 coffee break

15:25–16:10 James Hill (Charles University), “Active Subjectivity: A Berkeleyan Account”

Download program as PDF

Please note that this is an in-person only event and space is limited. If you’re interested in attending the workshop, please e-mail Jakub Mihálik at [email protected].