Action and Perception

The Department of Philosophy at the University of Chicago and the Mind and Action Workshop are pleased to present a conference entitled “Action and Perception.” The conference will take place May 11-12, 2018 at the University of Chicago, Rosenwald Hall Room 405.

The conference aims to build upon the growing body of work exploring interconnections between issues in the philosophy of perception and issues in the philosophy of action.  This has taken a variety of forms: “enactivist” theories of perception which hold that an account of what it is to perceive must make reference to capacities for bodily action in our environment; work on “practical knowledge” that explores the ways in which an agent’s knowledge of what she is doing does and does not depend on perception; work that explores structural parallels between theoretical and practical reasoning and the characteristic roles of perception and sensible inclination in supplying premises for such reasoning; work that reflects on the question whether and how normative or action-guiding properties might themselves be perceptible; etc.  Our aim is bring together philosophers who have approached these topics from interesting directions, and to invite them to reflect on how their projects might engage with one another.

Conference organizers are Matthew Boyle (Chicago) and Anton Ford (Chicago). Presenters are Sean Kelly (Harvard),  Alva Noe (Berkeley), Frederique de Vignemont (Institute Jean-Nicod), Jennifer Frey and Chis Frey (South Carolina), Mohan Matthen (Toronto), John Schewenkler (Florida State), Thomas Crowther (Warwick) and Anton Ford (Chicago).

Note: Participants are asked to register in advance to receive access to the papers.

Persons with disabilities who require assistance to participate are asked to contact William Weaver ([email protected]) in advance.