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Announcing an international interdisciplinary conference on:
THE COGNITIVE BASIS OF SCIENCE
Earnshaw Hall, University of Sheffield, UK 2 pm Wednesday 28
June to 2 pm Saturday 1 July 2000
Sponsored by the Hang Seng Centre for Cognitive Studies,
University of Sheffield
The conference will address such questions as the following:
What is it about human cognition which either enables us, or fits us,
to do science? Do scientific abilities have some sort of distinctive
innate basis? (Is ther e a science "module"?) Or are scientific
abilities socially constructed out of general-learning mechanisms?
How do different elements of our cognition fit together to underpin
scientific reasoning? To what extent are there continuities between
the cognitive processes involved in child development, those
engaged in by hunter-gatherer communities, and those which are
distinctive of scientific enquiry? How fundamental is the concept of
"cause" in scientific reasoning, and how do we come by it? (Is the
concept of "cause" innate?) How important is simplicity as a
constraint on scientific explanation, and to what extent does its use
in science reflect some more general cognitive constraint? What place
do the emotions have in an adequate account of scientific activity?
Participants will include the following:
Atran, Scott (Anthropology, CNRS Paris & Michigan)
Butterworth, George (Cognitive Science, Sussex)
Carruthers, Peter (Philosophy, Sheffield)
Chater, Nick (Psychology, Warwick)
Evans, Jonathan (Psychology, Plymouth)
Gelman, Rochel (Psychology, UCLA)
Harris, Paul (Psychology, Oxford)
Hilton, Denis (Psychology, Toulouse)
Koslowski, Barbara (Psychology, Cornell)
Laurence, Stephen (Philosophy, Sheffield)
Lipton, Peter (History and Philosophy of Science, Cambridge)
Mithen, Steven (Archaeology, Reading)
Nemeroff, Carol (Psychology, Arizona State)
Over, David (Philosophy, Sunderland)
Papineau, David (Philosophy, King's London)
Ravenscroft, Ian (Philosophy, King's London)
Siegal, Michael (Psychology, Sheffield)
Stich, Stephen (Philosophy, Rutgers)
Subbotsky, Eugene (Psychology, Lancaster)
Thagard, Paul (Philosophy, Waterloo)
Varley, Rosemary (Human Communication Science, Sheffield)
THIS IS NOT A CALL FOR PAPERS. All conference slots are by
invitation only. There will be an opportunity to display posters.
Abstracts should be submitted to the e-mail address below by 1 May
2000.
Details of the conference programme will be available in April or
May 2000. To be placed on the distribution list and/or to receive a
break-down of conference costs and a registration form, e-mail the
following address:
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