CFP: Kinds of Reasoning

Kinds of Reasoning

IV FINO Graduate Conference in Mind, Language and Science

3rd and 4th September 2018, Vercelli and Novara

Reasoning is a distinctive feature of human beings that comes into play in a variety of forms. Our conference aims at exploring such a variety: which kinds of reasoning lead us astray, and which ones, on the contrary, enable us to approach objectivity? Actually, can we really speak of different “kinds” of reasoning, or is there a fundamental unity behind this apparent diversity?  In order to improve our knowledge on this topic, we think it is essential to integrate contributions from different perspectives: logical, epistemological, psychological etc. Indeed, we believe it is very important to achieve a comprehensive overview on reasoning and on the methods used to study this topic in order to explore both the potential risks and the virtues of different forms of reasoning.

 Invited Speakers

Carlotta Pavese (Duke University)

Jan Sprenger (University of Turin)

We invite submissions in the form of an abstract (up to 500 words) through the EasyChair submission system. Each contributed speaker will have 30 minutes to present her paper, followed by 15 minutes of discussion. There will be no parallel sessions.

Topics we are interested in include, but are not limited to:

• probabilistic vs. non probabilistic reasoning
• dual process theories of reasoning
• reasoning errors: biases, heuristics and fallacies
• inference to the best explanation
• validity of classical reasoning principles (e.g. modus ponens)
• reasoning and social cognition
• pathological reasoning: reasoning in delusions, obsessions etc.
• kinds of intelligence
• practical vs. theoretical reasoning
• reasoning and rationality
• causal reasoning
• conditional reasoning
• reasoning and language
• reasoning with images: diagrams, maps etc.
• reasoning and mental representation

Authors must be graduate students or young scholars. The official conference language is English; contributions in other languages will not be considered. The abstract should not contain any identifying information. The deadline for the submission of abstracts is 20th May 2018. Authors will be notified of acceptance or rejection on 20th June 2018.

Funding opportunities for contributed speakers will be announced on the conference’s website.