Analogical Abduction as a Method for Extrapolating Inferences to Consciousness: The Hemispherotomy case

Charlotte Gauvry (King's College London)

We are pleased to invite you to the next session of the Empirically Informed Philosophy of Mind online Seminar 

Who: Charlotte Gauvry (King’s College London)
When: Friday, November 6th, 2026 — 5–6:30 pm (CET)
Where: Online via Zoom:
https://pantheonsorbonne.zoom.us/j/92782580594?pwd=a5p3WfunQQxJICrjJaUenFJFzmllbx.1
What: Analogical Abduction as a Method for Extrapolating Inferences to Consciousness: The Hemispherotomy case

Advances in ethology, biotechnology, and artificial intelligence have revived philosophical debates about whether consciousness can be attributed to entities that differ from humans, both physiologically and functionally. Beyond its conceptual difficulties, this extrapolation problem raises a logical one: which forms of reasoning are warranted when the target system diverges radically from the source case? I address it in two steps. First, following Negro and Mudrick (2025), I adopt analogical abduction as a method for inferring consciousness beyond typical cases. Second, I apply it to the case of hemispherotomy, a neurosurgical treatment for drug-resistant epilepsy in which one hemisphere is left in place but disconnected from the rest of the brain.

For any questions, please contact:
Sacha Behrend — [email protected]
Elodie Boissard — [email protected]

Program

September 30 — Christophe Heintz (Central European University)
When Do People Trust What They Are Told? Studies on Epistemic Vigilance

October 7 — Stéphane Lemaire (Université de Rennes)
How Do Moods Represent Future Prospects?

November 6 — Charlotte Gauvry (King’s College London)
Analogical Abduction as a Method for Extrapolating Inferences to Consciousness. The Hemispherotomy case

December 17 — Frédérique de Vignemont (Institut Jean Nicod)
TBA

Organizers:

Sacha Behrend
Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Hradec Králové, Czech Republic
Affiliated Researcher, Institut d’histoire et de philosophie des sciences et des techniques (IHPST), Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne

Elodie Boissard
Maîtresse de conférences en philosophie de la médecine
Université de Montpellier Paul Valéry