Emergence and Panpsychism

  • International Conference on the Metaphysics of Consciousness
  • Munich, Germany --- 2011

 

Hosting Institution:

 

 

Hochschule für Philosophie Munich - Germany

 

Prof. Dr. Godehard Brüntrup

 

in cooperation with:

 

 

Dilthey-Fellowship

- Das Rätsel des Bewusstseins - Dr. Tobias Müller (Mainz)

funded by:

 

 

 

Deutsche Forschungs-gemeinschaft

funded by:

 

 

pro philosophia e.V.

Downloads:

 

(Poster)

 

Thank You!

We would like to thank all the speakers, the participants and - last not least - the organizing team for a wonderfull conference. Without you the event could have never succeeded!

[LINK to print-version]

 

Interviews Shot at the Conference

[LINK]

 

A Short Clip from the Trip to Lake "Tegernsee

 

Academic Aim of the Conference

In 1979, Thomas Nagel published a paper titled "Panpsychism". More than30 years later, this paper can now be considered "visionary": On the one hand, Nagel defends the thesis - and this hardly something completely unexpected - that classical substance-dualism faces too many conceptual problems to be a viable option when it comes to explaining the pairing of the physical and the mental. But on the other hand, he argues that physicalism will most probably not be able to solve this problem either. An assessment that has become widely acknowledged: In 1996, David Chalmers in "The Conscious Mind" argued for this thesis and 2005 Jaegwon Kim conceded that after all physicalism might not be true globally - it might only be true "enough".

As an alternative, Nagel explores the possibility of brute emergence of consciousness from a purely physical base. And again 30 years later, there has been a systematic revival of the theory of emergence. Nevertheless, Nagel claims that strong emergence might be "un-intelligible". He argues that in order to explain consciousness naturalistically, philosophers need to assume some form of the mental at the very basis of reality.

Today, panpsychism and emergence are two main options for explaining consciousness in a non-reductive, nevertheless naturalistic ontological framework. This symposium brings together distinguished experts on panpsychism and emergence in order to foster discussion on the following topics:

  1. The Case for Panpsychism and Emergence.
  2. The Interrelation of Panpsychism and Emergence.
  3. Towards an Ontological Framework for Non-reductive Naturalism.
  4. The Historical Background of Panpsychism
  5. Empirical Applications of Panpsychism

Dates

  • Start: June 20th 2011 --- 4pm

  • End: June 24th 2011 --- 12am

Conference Venues:

  • Monday, June 20th 2011
    Munich School of Philosophy
    Kaulbachstraße 31
    80539 Munich, Germany


  • Tuesday, June 21st -- Friday, June 24th 2011
    Fürstenried Castle
    Forst-Kasten-Allee 103
    81475 Munich, Germany

Speakers and Talks

Speaker Talk
Blamauer, Michael Schelling's Real Idealism
Brüntrup, Godehard Inter-Attribute and Intra-Attribute Emergence
Chalmers, David Emergence, Panpsychism and Russellian Monism
Coleman, Sam Panpsychism bottom-up and top-down
Falkner, Gernot The interrelation between experience and self-constitution of
lower organisms as a key for investigating the mind-body problem (I)
Goff, Philip The Special Phenomenal Composition Question?
Hampe, Michael Why pluralists should not be panpsychists
Wong, Hong Yu Emergence?
Jedlicka, Peter Neuronal computations, quantum stochasticity and emergence
Koutroufinis, Spyridon The interrelation between experience and self-constitution of
lower organisms as a key for investigating the mind-body problem (II)
Manzotti, Riccardo

Does situated consciousness entails panpsychism? The Spread Mind as a causal solution to the combination problem.

McLaughlin, Brian On the Mental Life of Pancakes, or: What Itch does Panpsychism Promise to Scratch?
Müller, Tobias Panpsychism and Physicalism. Why Panpsychistic Physicalism is not enough.
Riffert, Franz Whitehead's Theory of Perception in the Light of Contemporary Psychological Research
Rosenberg, Gregg What kind of a radical are you?
Schneider, Christina Monads, Perceptions, Phenomena and Ideas -- Leibniz as Panexperientalist.
Seager, William Why physicalism?
Skrbina, David Collective consciousness and higher-order minds
Solhdju, Katrin A 'Pragmatist' Approach to Panpsychism: From Denis Diderot to Donna Haraway
Stephan, Achim On the Mental Life of Pancakes, or: What Itch does Panpsychism Promise to Scratch?
Strawson, Galen Identity Metaphysics

 

Time-Table

  Monday, 20th   Tuesday, 21st Wednes, 22nd Thursday, 23rd Friday, 24th
    09:00-10:00 SCHNEIDER MANZOTTI SKRBINA BRÜNTRUP
    10:00-11:00 BLAMAUER MÜLLER WONG McLAUGHLIN
    11:15-12:15 SOLHDJU STRAWSON HAMPE STEPHAN
14:45-15:00 Welc. Address 14:00-15:00 GOFF Cultural Events FALKNER Departure
15:00-16:15 CHALMERS 15:00-16:00 ROSENBERG KOUTROUFINIS  
16:15-17:30 SEAGER 16:30-17:30 COLEMAN RIFFERT  
17:30-18:45 Welc. Reception 17:30-18:30   JEDLICKA  

 

Application

In order to facilitate lively discussion among participants, the number of places is limited. Early application is advised.

 

Please download the application form, re-name the file, fill out the pdf and send it to us:

 

 

Information for Post-Graduate Applicants:

  • Apply via Email: l.jaskolla@hfph.mwn.de
  • Application deadline: May 1st 2011
  • The conference fee will be 120€.
  • The conference itself will take place at Fürstenried Castle which is a beautiful baroque castle just outside the gates of Munich. We have reserved a limited number of rooms at the conference center itself.
    The costs for a single room and full board (including: breakfast, lunch and dinner) will be 53€ per day and person.

Information for Applying Graduate Students:

  • Apply via Email: l.jaskolla@hfph.mwn.de
  • Application deadline: May 1st 2011
  • Please provide a letter of motivation (½ page) including you academic affiliation and how the overall topic of the conference relates to your own research or study focus.
  • For students the reduced conference fee will be 60€.
  • The conference itself will take place at Fürstenried Castle which is a beautiful baroque castle just outside the gates of Munich. We have reserved a limited number of rooms at the conference center itself.
    The costs for a single room and full board (including: breakfast, lunch and dinner) will be 53€ per day and person.