We are pleased to announce a monthly online talk series on &ldquo\;Inferences &\; Capacities.&rdquo\; The series brings together work on inferential capacities\, rationality\, normativity\, and cognition &mdash\; across both human and non-human animals &mdash\; with the aim of fostering discussion on the nature and limits of the cognitive sphere. \;
\nFederico Burdman (Universidad Alberto Hurtado)
\n"Constrained choices: addiction\, attention\, and reasons-responsiveness"
May 18: 11am (Buenos Aires)\; 10am (New York)\; 4pm (Berlin)
Abstract: \;A major challenge for theories of addiction is to explain how the condition drives people's behavior through influencing the way they make choices. In this talk\, I present a view&mdash\;the attentional capture model&mdash\;that addresses this challenge by explaining reduced responsiveness to reasons against using as an outcome of persistent biases in the allocation of internal attention. Building on the extensive empirical literature on attentional biases in addiction\, the model centers on two such biases: preferential retrieval and preferential elaboration. The first affects the process of searching for considerations for or against using drugs\, with the result that considerations that favor drug use come to mind more easily than other considerations. The second is the tendency to maintain attentional focus on drug-related thoughts once they are actively entertained. Both biases tilt the playing field of practical deliberation: considerations against using may fail to be called up or be only transiently entertained as the agent's attention is disproportionately drawn to considerations favoring drug use. This helps explain why people with addiction may end up making choices that conflict with their considered evaluative perspective.
\n
Each talk in our series will last 40 minutes followed by 40 minutes open Q&\;A. To register\, please send an email to Alfredo Vernazzani at:
alfredo-vernazzani AT protonmail.com
The series is co-organized by
Mariela Aguilera \;(National University of Có\;rdoba)
\nMatí\;as Osta-Vé\;lez \;(Universidad de la Repú\;blica)\, and
\nAlfredo Vernazzani \;(TU Dortmund\; Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg\; University of Pittsburgh).
\nAll talks take place online and are open to interested participants.
\nTo register\, please email Alfredo Vernazzani at:
\nalfredo-vernazzani AT protonmail.com
\n
Here is the 2026 lineup: \;
April 27: \;Angelica Kaufmann \;(University of Milan): &ldquo\;Mind Blanking as Mental Imagery&rdquo\;
\nMay 18: \;Federico Burdman \;(Universidad Alberto Hurtado) &ldquo\;Constrained choices: addiction\, attention\, and reasons-responsiveness&rdquo\;
\nJune 22: \;Susanna Schellenberg \;(Rutgers): TBA
\nJuly 20: \;Cameron Buckner \;(University of Florida): "Chains-of-Thought\, Inner Speech\, and Artificial Epistemic Agency"
\nSeptember 7: \;Ulf Hlobil \;(Concordia University): TBA
\nOctober 19: \;Eva Schmidt \;(TU Dortmund): TBA
\nNovember 16: \;Hans-Johann Glock \;(University of Zü\;rich): &ldquo\;Is ascribing inferences to brains or non-human animals a fallacy?"
\nDecember 14: Emma Borg (School of Advanced Studies\, University of London): "Twitches\, Fidgets\, Habits\, Skills: Exploring the scope of common-sense psychology."
\n
Check out our website: \;
We are pleased to announce our monthly \;online \;talk series on "Inferences &\; Capacities."
Our next speaker is:
Susanna Schellenberg \;(Rutgers)
TBA
June 22: \;11am (Buenos Aires)\, 10am (New York)\, 4pm (Berlin).
\nAbstract: \;TBA
\nHow to participate: \;Please\, send an email to Alfredo Vernazzani at: \;
\nalfredo-vernazzani AT protonmail.com
\n_______
\nThe series brings together work on inferential capacities\, rationality\, normativity\, and cognition &mdash\; across both human and non-human animals &mdash\; with the aim of fostering discussion on the nature and limits of the cognitive sphere. \;
\n2026 line-up: \;
April 27: \;Angelica Kaufmann \;(University of Milan): "Mind Blanking as Mental Imagery." \;
\nMay 18: \;Federico Burdman \;(Universidad Alberto Hurtado) "Constrained choices: addiction\, attention\, and reasons-responsiveness." \;
\nJune 22: \;Susanna Schellenberg \;(Rutgers): TBA \;
\nJuly 20: \;Cameron Buckner \;(University of Florida): "Chains-of-Thought\, Inner Speech\, and Artificial Epistemic Agency."
\nSeptember 7: \;Ulf Hlobil \;(Concordia University): TBA \;
\nOctober 19: \;Eva Schmidt \;(TU Dortmund): TBA \;
\nNovember 16: \;Hans-Johann Glock \;(University of Zü\;rich): "Is Ascribing Inferences to Brains or Non-human Animals a Fallacy?" \;
\nDecember 14: \;Emma Borg \;(SAS\, University of London): "Twitches\, Fidgets\, Habits\, Skills: The Scope of Common-Sense Psychology." \;
Each talk lasts c. 40 minutes followed by 40 minutes open Q&\;A. \;
\nThe series is co-organized by:
\nMariela Aguilera \;(University of Có\;rdoba)
\nMatí\;as Osta-Vé\;lez \;(Universidad de la Repú\;blica)
\nAlfredo Vernazzani \;(TU Dortmund\; Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg).
\nVisit our website: \;
ORGANIZER;CN=Alfredo Vernazzani;CN=Mariela Aguilera;CN="Matías Osta": METHOD:PUBLISH END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260506T230700Z DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260720T160000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260720T180000 SUMMARY:Chains-of-Thought\, Inner Speech\, and Artificial Epistemic Agency UID:20260507T213524Z-iCalPlugin-Grails@philevents-web-6b96c54f56-bljdq TZID:Europe/London DESCRIPTION:We are pleased to announce our monthly \;online \;talk series on "Inferences &\; Capacities."
Our next speaker is:
Cameron Buckner \;(University of Florida)
"Chains-of-Thought\, Inner Speech\, and Artificial Epistemic Agency"
July 20: \;11am (Buenos Aires)\, 10am (New York)\, 4pm (Berlin).
Abstract: \;The frontier of AI is being pushed forward now by &ldquo\;Large Reasoning Models&rdquo\; (LRMs) that self-generate long textual &ldquo\;Chains-of-Thought&rdquo\; (CoTs) before answering user queries. The role of these CoTs in generating final answers was inspired by and generates obvious allusions to the roles played by inner speech in human reasoning and metacognition. In both cases\, we might wonder whether access to causally relevant streams of linguistic representations might reveal the structure of the agent&rsquo\;s rational inferences or the way they construe their evidence as supporting their conclusions. I argue that there is a degree of negative epistemic parity in both cases: inner linguistic representations require interpretation in both cases\, which limits the role such representations might play in rational explanations of inferences or luminous access to inferential grounds. However\, in both cases inner linguistic representations might play a role in more forward-directed metacognitive control&mdash\;though there are still important disanalogies in the epistemic architecture of humans and current artificial agents\, especially involving epistemic feelings and the stable adjustment of inferential policies over time. These disanalogies limit the sense in which even frontier AI models possess the kind of individual perspective on the world through which such notions obtain their distinctive explanatory import\, though this suggests less in-principle limitations than ambitious targets for near-term AI research.
\nHow to participate: \;Please\, send an email to Alfredo Vernazzani at: \;
\nalfredo-vernazzani AT protonmail.com
\n_______
\nThe series brings together work on inferential capacities\, rationality\, normativity\, and cognition &mdash\; across both human and non-human animals &mdash\; with the aim of fostering discussion on the nature and limits of the cognitive sphere. \;
\n2026 line-up: \;
April 27: \;Angelica Kaufmann \;(University of Milan): "Mind Blanking as Mental Imagery." \;
\nMay 18: \;Federico Burdman \;(Universidad Alberto Hurtado) "Constrained choices: addiction\, attention\, and reasons-responsiveness." \;
\nJune 22: \;Susanna Schellenberg \;(Rutgers): TBA \;
\nJuly 20: \;Cameron Buckner \;(University of Florida): "Chains-of-Thought\, Inner Speech\, and Artificial Epistemic Agency."
\nSeptember 7: \;Ulf Hlobil \;(Concordia University): TBA \;
\nOctober 19: \;Eva Schmidt \;(TU Dortmund): TBA \;
\nNovember 16: \;Hans-Johann Glock \;(University of Zü\;rich): "Is Ascribing Inferences to Brains or Non-human Animals a Fallacy?" \;
\nDecember 14: \;Emma Borg \;(SAS\, University of London): "Twitches\, Fidgets\, Habits\, Skills: The Scope of Common-Sense Psychology." \;
Each talk lasts c. 40 minutes followed by 40 minutes open Q&\;A. \;
\nThe series is co-organized by:
\nMariela Aguilera \;(University of Có\;rdoba)
\nMatí\;as Osta-Vé\;lez \;(Universidad de la Repú\;blica)
\nAlfredo Vernazzani \;(TU Dortmund\; Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg).
\nVisit our website: \;
ORGANIZER;CN=Alfredo Vernazzani;CN=Mariela Aguilera;CN="Matías Osta": METHOD:PUBLISH END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260506T230700Z DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260907T160000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260907T180000 SUMMARY:TBA UID:20260507T213525Z-iCalPlugin-Grails@philevents-web-6b96c54f56-bljdq TZID:Europe/London DESCRIPTION:We are pleased to announce our monthly \;online \;talk series on "Inferences &\; Capacities."
Our next speaker is:
Ulf Hlobil \;(Concordia University)
TBA
Sep 7: \;11am (Buenos Aires)\, 10am (New York)\, 4pm (Berlin).
\nAbstract: \;TBA
\nHow to participate: \;Please\, send an email to Alfredo Vernazzani at: \;
\nalfredo-vernazzani AT protonmail.com
\n_______
\nThe series brings together work on inferential capacities\, rationality\, normativity\, and cognition &mdash\; across both human and non-human animals &mdash\; with the aim of fostering discussion on the nature and limits of the cognitive sphere. \;
\n2026 line-up: \;
April 27: \;Angelica Kaufmann \;(University of Milan): "Mind Blanking as Mental Imagery." \;
\nMay 18: \;Federico Burdman \;(Universidad Alberto Hurtado) "Constrained choices: addiction\, attention\, and reasons-responsiveness." \;
\nJune 22: \;Susanna Schellenberg \;(Rutgers): TBA \;
\nJuly 20: \;Cameron Buckner \;(University of Florida): "Chains-of-Thought\, Inner Speech\, and Artificial Epistemic Agency."
\nSeptember 7: \;Ulf Hlobil \;(Concordia University): TBA \;
\nOctober 19: \;Eva Schmidt \;(TU Dortmund): TBA \;
\nNovember 16: \;Hans-Johann Glock \;(University of Zü\;rich): "Is Ascribing Inferences to Brains or Non-human Animals a Fallacy?" \;
\nDecember 14: \;Emma Borg \;(SAS\, University of London): "Twitches\, Fidgets\, Habits\, Skills: The Scope of Common-Sense Psychology." \;
Each talk lasts c. 40 minutes followed by 40 minutes open Q&\;A. \;
\nThe series is co-organized by:
\nMariela Aguilera \;(University of Có\;rdoba)
\nMatí\;as Osta-Vé\;lez \;(Universidad de la Repú\;blica)
\nAlfredo Vernazzani \;(TU Dortmund\; Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg).
\nVisit our website: \;
ORGANIZER;CN=Alfredo Vernazzani;CN=Mariela Aguilera;CN="Matías Osta": METHOD:PUBLISH END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260506T230700Z DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261019T160000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261019T180000 SUMMARY:TBA UID:20260507T213526Z-iCalPlugin-Grails@philevents-web-6b96c54f56-bljdq TZID:Europe/London DESCRIPTION:We are pleased to announce our monthly \;online \;talk series on "Inferences &\; Capacities."
Our next speaker is:
Eva Schmidt \;(TU Dortmund)
TBA
Oct 19: \;11am (Buenos Aires)\, 10am (New York)\, 4pm (Berlin).
Abstract: TBA
\n\nHow to participate: \;Please\, send an email to Alfredo Vernazzani at: \;
\nalfredo-vernazzani AT protonmail.com
\n_______
\nThe series brings together work on inferential capacities\, rationality\, normativity\, and cognition &mdash\; across both human and non-human animals &mdash\; with the aim of fostering discussion on the nature and limits of the cognitive sphere. \;
\n2026 line-up: \;
April 27: \;Angelica Kaufmann \;(University of Milan): "Mind Blanking as Mental Imagery." \;
\nMay 18: \;Federico Burdman \;(Universidad Alberto Hurtado) "Constrained choices: addiction\, attention\, and reasons-responsiveness." \;
\nJune 22: \;Susanna Schellenberg \;(Rutgers): TBA \;
\nJuly 20: \;Cameron Buckner \;(University of Florida): "Chains-of-Thought\, Inner Speech\, and Artificial Epistemic Agency."
\nSeptember 7: \;Ulf Hlobil \;(Concordia University): TBA \;
\nOctober 19: \;Eva Schmidt \;(TU Dortmund): TBA \;
\nNovember 16: \;Hans-Johann Glock \;(University of Zü\;rich): "Is Ascribing Inferences to Brains or Non-human Animals a Fallacy?" \;
\nDecember 14: \;Emma Borg \;(SAS\, University of London): "Twitches\, Fidgets\, Habits\, Skills: The Scope of Common-Sense Psychology." \;
Each talk lasts c. 40 minutes followed by 40 minutes open Q&\;A. \;
\nThe series is co-organized by:
\n\nMariela Aguilera \;(University of Có\;rdoba)
\nMatí\;as Osta-Vé\;lez \;(Universidad de la Repú\;blica)
\nAlfredo Vernazzani \;(TU Dortmund\; Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg).
\n\nVisit our website: \;
\nWe are pleased to announce our monthly \;online \;talk series on "Inferences &\; Capacities."
Our next speaker is:
Hans-Johann Glock \;(University of Zü\;rich)
"Is ascribing inferences to brains or non-human animals a fallacy?"
Nov 16: \;12am (Buenos Aires)\, 10am (New York)\, 4pm (Berlin).
Abstract: TBA
\nHow to participate: \;Please\, send an email to Alfredo Vernazzani at: \;
\nalfredo-vernazzani AT protonmail.com
\n_______
\nThe series brings together work on inferential capacities\, rationality\, normativity\, and cognition &mdash\; across both human and non-human animals &mdash\; with the aim of fostering discussion on the nature and limits of the cognitive sphere. \;
\n2026 line-up: \;
April 27: \;Angelica Kaufmann \;(University of Milan): "Mind Blanking as Mental Imagery." \;
\nMay 18: \;Federico Burdman \;(Universidad Alberto Hurtado) "Constrained choices: addiction\, attention\, and reasons-responsiveness." \;
\nJune 22: \;Susanna Schellenberg \;(Rutgers): TBA \;
\nJuly 20: \;Cameron Buckner \;(University of Florida): "Chains-of-Thought\, Inner Speech\, and Artificial Epistemic Agency."
\nSeptember 7: \;Ulf Hlobil \;(Concordia University): TBA \;
\nOctober 19: \;Eva Schmidt \;(TU Dortmund): TBA \;
\nNovember 16: \;Hans-Johann Glock \;(University of Zü\;rich): "Is Ascribing Inferences to Brains or Non-human Animals a Fallacy?" \;
\nDecember 14: \;Emma Borg \;(SAS\, University of London): "Twitches\, Fidgets\, Habits\, Skills: The Scope of Common-Sense Psychology." \;
Each talk lasts c. 40 minutes followed by 40 minutes open Q&\;A. \;
\nThe series is co-organized by:
\nMariela Aguilera \;(University of Có\;rdoba)
\nMatí\;as Osta-Vé\;lez \;(Universidad de la Repú\;blica)
\nAlfredo Vernazzani \;(TU Dortmund\; Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg).
\nVisit our website: \;
ORGANIZER;CN=Alfredo Vernazzani;CN=Mariela Aguilera;CN="Matías Osta": METHOD:PUBLISH END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260506T230700Z DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261214T160000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261214T180000 SUMMARY:Twitches\, Fidgets\, Habits\, Skills: Exploring the scope of common-sense psychology UID:20260507T213528Z-iCalPlugin-Grails@philevents-web-6b96c54f56-bljdq TZID:Europe/London DESCRIPTION:We are pleased to announce our monthly \;online \;talk series on "Inferences &\; Capacities."
Our last speaker for 2026 is:
Emma Borg \;(SAS\, University of London)
"Twitches\, Fidgets\, Habits\, Skills: Exploring the scope of common-sense psychology"
December 14: \;12am (Buenos Aires)\, 10am (New York)\, 4pm (Berlin).
\nAbstract: A standard philosophical view holds that human action is typically intentional\, i.e. reasons-responsive\, driven by what a subject believes\, desires\, and intends. This picture of human action seems crucial to many things we care about (e.g. underpinning reactive moral attitudes). However\, recently questions have been asked about the scope of what Fodor 1987 called &lsquo\;good old common sense belief/desire psychology&rsquo\;: is the assumption that human behaviour is typically reasons-responsive right? According to various scope-based challenges\, although the reasons-based approach holds for occurrently considered\, consciously-willed actions\, most of what humans do is not like this. In particular\, fidgets\, habits\, and skills have all been argued to fall beyond the reach of the common-sense framework. Yet if this is right\, then the reasons-based model turns out to be less interesting or impressive than we might once have thought\, since it accounts for only a tiny sliver of human action\, ignoring vast swathes of what people do. My aim in this talk is to defend common-sense psychology from various incarnations of the scope challenge. I&rsquo\;ll argue that\, at heart\, the challenge rests on a background picture of different\, fully encapsulated systems for thought and action\, a picture we have reason to resist.
\nHow to participate: \;Please\, send an email to Alfredo Vernazzani at: \;
\nalfredo-vernazzani AT protonmail.com
\n_______
\nThe series brings together work on inferential capacities\, rationality\, normativity\, and cognition &mdash\; across both human and non-human animals &mdash\; with the aim of fostering discussion on the nature and limits of the cognitive sphere. \;
\n2026 line-up: \;
April 27: \;Angelica Kaufmann \;(University of Milan): "Mind Blanking as Mental Imagery." \;
\nMay 18: \;Federico Burdman \;(Universidad Alberto Hurtado) "Constrained choices: addiction\, attention\, and reasons-responsiveness." \;
\nJune 22: \;Susanna Schellenberg \;(Rutgers): TBA \;
\nJuly 20: \;Cameron Buckner \;(University of Florida): "Chains-of-Thought\, Inner Speech\, and Artificial Epistemic Agency."
\nSeptember 7: \;Ulf Hlobil \;(Concordia University): TBA \;
\nOctober 19: \;Eva Schmidt \;(TU Dortmund): TBA \;
\nNovember 16: \;Hans-Johann Glock \;(University of Zü\;rich): "Is Ascribing Inferences to Brains or Non-human Animals a Fallacy?" \;
\nDecember 14: \;Emma Borg \;(SAS\, University of London): "Twitches\, Fidgets\, Habits\, Skills: The Scope of Common-Sense Psychology." \;
Each talk lasts c. 40 minutes followed by 40 minutes open Q&\;A. \;
\nThe series is co-organized by:
\nMariela Aguilera \;(University of Có\;rdoba)
\nMatí\;as Osta-Vé\;lez \;(Universidad de la Repú\;blica)
\nAlfredo Vernazzani \;(TU Dortmund\; Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg).
\nVisit our website: \;
\n ORGANIZER;CN=Alfredo Vernazzani;CN=Mariela Aguilera;CN="Matías Osta": METHOD:PUBLISH END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR