Control and the Absent Mind

Control and the Absent Mind is an interdisciplinary conference taking place between 29 June and 1 July 2012 at the academy Die Wolfsburg, Falkenweg 6, 45478 Mülheim an der Ruhr (GERMANY). The conference is organized by Neil Roughley and Ezio Di Nucci (Universität Duisburg-Essen).

The conference brings together leading international experts on human action and behaviour from both the empirical sciences and philosophy, to discuss in an interdisciplinary setting recent developments in the empirical and theoretical study of automaticity and habits. We often act automatically – without awareness or a preceding conscious intention – as for exam-ple when we act out of habit or when we exercise a skill. These behaviours pose challenging questions: how are they to be explained? Can we reconcile them within the intentional activity of a rational planning agent? Can we still talk of control and responsibility in such cases? On the one hand, such practices are so common and frequent that we must be able to account for them within agents’ normal rational lives; on the other hand, lack of awareness poses a serious problem to the attribution of intentionality and responsibility. We propose to tackle these important questions by bringing together for the first time the leading empirical psychologists and philosophers working in the field.

Contact: Dr. Ezio Di Nucci, Institut für Philosophie, Universität Duisburg-Essen, 45117 Essen (DEUTSCHLAND), [+49] (0)201/183-3957, ezio [dot] dinucci [at] uni-due [dot] de


Registration: You may register for the conference until May 31st by emailing Ezio Di Nucci (ezio[dot]dinucci[at]uni-due[dot]de). Places are limited and will be assigned on first-come first-served basis. There is a conference fee of 27€ (or 9€ per day).