CFP: ECOM Graduate Conference: Kinds of Mindreading

The aim of “Kinds of Mindreading” (Virtual Graduate Conference) is to generate interdisciplinary discussion on varieties or types of mindreading that are of interest to researchers, including philosophers, psychologists, neuroscientists, and anthropologists. We encourage contributions that discuss specific types of mindreading by either creating novel distinctions or by critically analyzing current and traditional distinctions pertaining to mindreading in light of new research and insights.

Keynote speakers:

Prof. Helen Tager-Flusberg (Boston University, Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences)

Asst. Prof. Jonathan S. Phillips (Dartmouth College, Departments of Cognitive Science, Philosophy, and Psychological and Brain Sciences)

Below are examples of potential topics (in no particular order, and with some overlaps): 

• Implicit vs. explicit theory of mind 
• The relationship between theory of mind and language
• Mindreading in Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Mind reading vs. Behavior reading
• The two-systems approach to mindreading (minimal vs. full-blown mind-reading; fast/automatic process vs. slower/reflective process)  
• Simulation-Theory vs. Theory-Theory 
• The modularity-nativist approach to mindreading 
• The Intentional Stance approach to mindreading 
• Domain general vs. domain specific mechanisms of mindreading 
• Procedural (know-how) understanding vs. theoretical understanding of mental states
• Innate vs. learned knowledge of other minds 
• Observational vs. inferential forms of mindreading 
• The Embodied Cognition approach to mindreading 
• First-person mindreading (self-mentalization) vs. third-person mindreading 
• Metacognition vs. theory of mind

Submission guidelines:

We invite abstracts (shorter than 500 words), excluding references – of short papers, suitable for a 20-25-min presentation, by graduate students and postdocs. The papers should be relatively accessible to an interdisciplinary audience and avoid overly technical discussion of ‘in-house’ issues in philosophy of mind.

Abstracts should be ready for blind review and include the title of the paper; they should make clear both the topic and the main arguments of the paper. Please send a separate cover sheet with the title of the paper, author's name, affiliation (if any), and contact information.

Abstracts+cover sheets should be sent to Aliyar Ozercan [email protected] by December 25 (midnight). Notifications of acceptance will be sent no later than January 10, 2021. 

For the event link please also reach out to Aliyar Ozercan [email protected].