PhiVis: Philosophy of Vision Science (A Vision Sciences Society Satellite Event)

Recent years have seen a resurgence of interest in the intersection between vision science and the philosophy of perception. But opportunities for conversation between vision scientists and philosophers are still hard to come by. The phiVis workshop will be a forum for promoting and expanding this interdisciplinary dialogue. Philosophers of perception can capitalize on the experimental knowledge of working vision scientists, while vision scientists will have an opportunity to connect their research to longstanding philosophical questions. The workshop will feature short talks by philosophers of perception that engage with the latest research in vision science, followed by prepared comments by vision scientists, on topics such as probabilistic representation in perception, perceptual constancy, amodal completion, multisensory perception, visual adaptation, and more.

Our event will take place on Sunday, May 23rd, from 3:30pm-5:30pm ET, and will be held virtually (Zoom details forthcoming). The event will feature the following talks:

Ned Block (NYU): Perception is Non-Conceptual

with comments by Anya Hurlbert (Newcastle)

Jessie Munton (Cambridge): Seeing How Things Could Be

with comments by Phil Kellman (UCLA)

E.J. Green (MIT): Revisiting Molyneux's Puzzle

with comments by Ladan Shams (UCLA)

Also on the program are Karen Schloss (Wisconsin) and Jorge Morales (JHU), who will serve as chairs. The event will conclude with an open-ended discussion for all participants, about ways philosophy and vision science can most productively interact.

You can learn more about the phiVis workshop at our website — www.phivis.org — and also in the attached flyer.

Registration is free, though we ask that you please formally sign up to attend through this registration link, which can also be found on the workshop's website.

This event is organized by Kevin Lande (York University) and Chaz Firestone (JHU) and is supported by York University's Vision: Science to Applications (VISTA) program and Centre for Vision Research, along with the Johns Hopkins University Vision Sciences Group.