CFP: Models and Mechanisms: Special Focus on Cognitive Science

The development of models and the investigation of mechanisms are often deeply related across scientific research, and modelling can play a range of roles in directing research into mechanisms. While recent years have witnessed an increasing amount of interest by philosophers and by scientists alike in the distinctive roles that models and mechanisms play in scientific explanation, many outstanding issues about the relationship between models, investigations of mechanisms and scientific explanation remain. The aim of this workshop is to address some such outstanding issues  - paying special attention to practice in the cognitive sciences.

Topics of interest include (but are not limited to): how mechanistic models relate to scientific explanation; whether the models used to investigate mechanisms possess any distinctive properties; how trade-offs in models, such as between simplicity and realism, fit within a mechanistic approach to explanation; how mechanistic modelling contributes to questions of explanation, reduction and scientific realism in specific cases, particularly in the cognitive sciences.

Call for papers:

Papers are welcomed from researchers across philosophy and science (especially from the cognitive sciences), including papers based on experimental studies that illustrate the relationship between modeling and investigating mechanisms. The conference language is English.

Authors are invited to submit an abstract of 100 words and an extended abstract of 1000 words. To submit, please prepare your abstracts for blind review, and save your extended abstract as a PDF file. Then follow this link: 

https://www.easychair.org/account/signin.cgi?conf=mm2012

When logged in, go to the new submission page. Include your 100 words abstract and upload the PDF file of your extended abstract. You will be able to revise your submission any number of times before the deadline (10 September 2012). Please feel free to contact the organizers ([email protected]) with any questions you may have. 

Dates and Deadlines:


10 September 2012: Abstract submission


12 October 2012: Notification of acceptance


12 November 2012: Registration deadline


6-7 December 2012: Workshop

Program Committee:


Anouk Barberousse (IHPST, Paris/HSE, Lille)


Matthias Bethge (CIN, Tuebingen)


Carl Craver (Washington University, St Louis) 


Lindley Darden (Maryland)


Marcus Eronen (Bochum)


Roman Frigg (LSE)


Cyrille Imbert (CNRS, Nancy)

Tarja Knuuttila (TINT, Helsinki)


Mark Sprevak (Edinburgh)


Catherine Stinson (Pittsburgh HPS / CIN,Tuebingen)


Matty Chalk (ENS / Paris)