The Role of Imagination in Learning, Understanding, and Klnowledge
8 November 2024
GA 04/187
Zoom
Philosophers across various traditions and areas of research have long debated the epistemic roles of imagination. While imagination is often associated with creative thinking and the discovery of possible or fantastical worlds, the question remains: does imagination enhance our understanding of the actual world and help us acquire knowledge?
This workshop brings together experts across various fields—phenomenology, philosophy of language, and philosophy of mind—to examine the diverse epistemic roles of imagination. By exploring how imagination can be a source of learning, deepen understanding, and contribute to knowledge formation, we aim to foster interdisciplinary dialogue and uncover new insights into this essential cognitive process.
Organizers:
Sofia Pedrini, Alfredo Vernazzani, Markus Werning (Ruhr University Bochum).
Paris-Bochum Workshop: Memory and Consciousness - Philosophical and Phenomenological Perspectives
Paris - Institut Jean Nicod
15 May 2023
Analysis of the phenomenological qualities of memory has been part of the philosophical debate since Tulving (1985) described memory in terms of different forms of consciousness in a phenomenological taxonomy. However, philosophers of memory have paid little attention to phenomenological studies on consciousness, which historically have investigated the essential structures of experience. On the other hand, in the last few decades, the philosophy of memory has exponentially progressed in analysing the cognitive mechanisms involved in memory. This workshop aims to shed light on memory experience by bringing phenomenologists and philosophers of memory together in dialogue for mutual benefit.
Confirmed speakers:
• Michel Bitbol (CNRS, Husserl Archive)
• Dorothee Legrand (CNRS, École normale supérieure)
• Francesca Righetti (Ruhr University of Bochum)
• Markus Werning (Ruhr University of Bochum)
Organization:
Francesca Righetti (Ruhr University of Bochum), Jerome Dokic, Valeria Giardino (Jean Nicod Institute) and supported by John Sutton (Institut d'Etudes Avancees de Paris).
GAP.11 – Memory and Imagination workshop
September 16, 2022
The aim of this workshop is to systematically examine the relationship between episodic memory and imagination from distinct perspectives. This workshop brings together key researchers in the field to explore the different ways of understanding the (dis)continuism debate about memory and imagination, from a metaphysical, epistemological, attitudinal, or normative perspective, and explore the nuances of the relation between these two fundamental cognitive capacities. The workshop hence aims to develop a more precise understanding of the relationship between memory and imagination, and brings the internationally already well established and currently hotly debated topic on the relationship between memory and imagination to a broader audience in the German speaking and European philosophical community.
Confirmed speakers:
* Kourken Michaelian (Université Grenoble Alpes) - keynote
* John Sutton (Macquarie University) - keynote
* Alma Barner (University of Salzburg)
* Dorothea Debus (Universität Konstanz)
* Christopher McCarroll (National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University)
* Kristina Liefke (Ruhr-Universität Bochum)
* Anco Peeters (Ruhr-Universität Bochum)
* Markus Werning (Ruhr-Universität Bochum)
The workshop is organized by Markus Werning (Ruhr University Bochum), Chris McCarroll (National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei) and Anco Peeters (Ruhr University Bochum) and takes place in cooperation with the DFG Research Group FOR 2812 “Constructing scenarios of the past: A new framework in episodic memory”.
Grenoble-Bochum Memory Workshop
10-11 June, 2022
Organizers: Kourken Michaelian (CPM, Université Grenoble Alpes), James Openshaw (CPM, Université Grenoble Alpes), Anco Peeters (Ruhr-Universität Bochum), and Markus Werning (Ruhr-Universität Bochum).
Online workshop ‘4E cognition and memory’
May 23 – May 25 (2022)
Background & Aim
Though research on so-called 4E cognition has become firmly established in the cognitive sciences, relatively little attention has been paid to the domain of memory. This is surprising, given that memory is typically considered one of the key domains of cognitive science. This workshop brings together researchers working on embodied, embedded, extended and enactive approaches to cognition to elucidate the phenomenon of memory and investigate how 4E research on memory can move forward.
While the focus of the workshop will mainly be on episodic memory, we welcome submissions that discuss other types of memory and their interactions.
Confirmed speakers:
* Louise Barrett (Psychology, University of Lethbridge)
* Richard Heersmink (Philosophy, Monash University)
* Francesco Ianì (Psychology, University of Turin)
* Anco Peeters & Marta Caravà (Philosophy, Ruhr University Bochum)
* John Sutton (Philosophy & Cognitive Science, Macquarie University)
* Evelyn Tribble (English, University of Connecticut)
Organizers:
Marta Caravà (Ruhr University Bochum), Roy Dings (Ruhr University Bochum), Chris McCarroll (National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University) and Anco Peeters (Ruhr University Bochum)
REASONING, ARGUMENTATION AND LOGIC IN NATURAL LANGUAGE: EXPERIMENTS AND MODELS
April 3-5 2019, Ruhr University Bochum, Germany
Organization: Markus Werning (BayesPrag@EEG, U Bochum), Matthias Unterhuber (BayesPrag@EEG, U Bochum), Maria Spychalska (ImpliPer, U Cologne), and Eugen Fischer (UEA)
Plenary Talks by:
Richard Breheny (University College London)
Paul Engelhardt (UEA)
Eugen Fischer (UEA)
Yosef Grodzinsky (Hebrew University of Jerusalem)
Stefan Heim (RWTH Aachen University)
Lucy MacGregor (Cambridge University)
Ken McRae (Western University, London, Ontario)
Milena Rabovsky (Free University Berlin)
Maria Spychalska (University Cologne)
Jakub Szymanik (University of Amsterdam)
Matthias Unterhuber (Ruhr University Bochum)
Markus Werning (Ruhr University Bochum)
The workshop examines reasoning, argumentation and logic from the perspective of experimental pragmatics. Whereas these issues have a long tradition in the philosophy of language and theoretical linguistics, research in experimental pragmatics has come to focus on them only recently. This is surprising since pragmatic phenomena exert strong influence on which arguments count as sound and valid in everyday reasoning. Relevant phenomena include (a) the disambiguation of polysemous words, (b) context effects on the interpretation of content words and (c) pragmatic properties of logical connectives (e.g., order effects associated with and) as well as of quantifiers (e.g., the scalar implicature from some to not all). The workshop focuses on (i) experimental approaches and (ii) empirically driven models regarding these as well as other pragmatic phenomena in the domain of argumentation and reasoning.
CoMPPrag2018: Computational Models of Language Generation and Processing in Pragmatics
Bochum, September 26-28, 2018.
Computational pragmatics, understood as an interdisciplinary field at the interface between Linguistics, Cognitive Science, Artificial Intelligence and Philosophy provides computational models of pragmatic reasoning that are intrinsically tied to experimentally collected data and their analysis. It covers different aspects of pragmatic reasoning, and it might be understood as an interdisciplinary endeavor to understand how contextual information influences the production and interpretation of utterances.
Invited Speakers: Nicole Gotzner (ZAS, Berlin), Ehud Reiter (U Aberdeen), Hannah Rohde (U Edinburgh), Matthew Stone (Rutgers U), Fabian Triefenbach (Amazon)
Organization: Anton Benz (ZAS Berlin), Michael Franke (U Tübingen), Christoph Hesse (ZAS Berlin), Ralf Klabunde (U Bochum), Matthias Unterhuber (U Bochum), Markus Werning (U Bochum)
PLM4 - Fourth Philosophy of Language and Mind Conference
PLM is a European network of centers devoted to the Philosophy of Language and Mind. PLM was founded in 2010 and organizes international conferences, workshop and master classes taught by leading experts in the field.
The Fourth PLM conference will take place:
Venue: Ruhr University Bochum
Time: 21-23 September 2017
Plenary Speakers:
Emma Borg (U Reading)
Ophelia Deroy (LMU Munich & IP London)
Paul Egré (Institut Jean Nicod, Paris)
Max Kölbel (U Vienna)
Nikola Kompa (U Osnabrück)
Bence Nanay (U Antwerp)
Albert Newen (U Bochum)
Markus Werning (U Bochum)
Organization: Markus Werning (speaker), Albert Newen and Heinrich Wansing
Revising formal semantic and pragmatic theories from a neurocognitive perspective
Workshop
Date & Venue:
June 19-20 2017 Ruhr University Bochum, Germany
Organization
Maria Spychalska
Markus Werning
Invited Speakers:
Valentina Bambini
Harm Brouwer
Ira Noveck
Steve Politzer-Ahles
Petra Schumacher
Over the last few decades we observe a growing interest in using experimental methods to investigate semantic and pragmatic theories. Experimental pragmatics have become a flourishing interdisciplinary research area. Aside from traditional methods, such as reaction time measurement, eye-tracking or acceptability judgments, researchers have become increasingly interested in investigating language processing on the neural level and by this means shedding more light on semantic and pragmatic theories. To this end they have used techniques such as electroencephalography (EEG), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and magnetoencephalography (MEG). Although this enterprise has resulted in a large amount of interesting data about linguistic processing, still the interpretation of these results remains debated with respect to their relevance for more formal theories of meaning. On the one hand, it often is difficult to formulate clear processing predictions for semantic and pragmatic theories, on the other hand, the theoretical interpretation of the activations observed with neuroimaging tools is not fully understood. As a result, the neurolinguistics and formal semantic/pragmatic communities remain still rather disjoint. In this workshop we would like to bridge the gap and discuss the challenges of combining the two approaches.
Negation and Negativity in Natural Language
Workshop
Date & Venue:
April 27-29 2017 Ruhr University Bochum, Germany
Organization: Viviana Haase & Markus Werning
Plenary Talks by:
Rachel Giora (Tel Aviv University)
Viviana Haase (Ruhr University Bochum)
Laurence Horn (Yale University)
Barbara Kaup (University Tübingen)
João Marcos (Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte)
Peter Öhl (University Wuppertal)
Maria Spychalska (University Cologne)
Heinrich Wansing (Ruhr University Bochum
Markus Werning (Ruhr University Bochum)
Negation and negativity are key features of human languages. While negation is a phenomenon of semantic opposition, negativity adresses a broader spectrum of phenomena. The investigation of the form and meaning of negation and negativity in natural language is at the heart of many debates in philosophy, linguistics, logic and psychology. The aim of this interdisciplinary workshop is to bring together the various perspectives of negation and negativity and thereby force the interdisciplinary research on negation and negativity in natural language.
Fest colloquium in honor of Gerhard Schurz
Schloss Mickeln Düsseldorf, December 1 - 3, 2016.
Organization: Markus Werning, Peter Brössel and Alexander Gebharter.
What is episodic memory? Perspectives from Philosophy, Psychology and Neuroscience
MRG Closing Symposium
Bochum, November 29-30, 2016.
Organization: Sen Cheng, Magdalena Sauvage, & Markus Werning.
GEDANKEN=SPRÜNGE - Mentale Zeitreisen: Michael Rüsenberg im Gespräch mit Markus Werning
Bonn, 20. Oktober 2016, 20:00 Uhr.
Memory and Mind: Perspectives from Philosophy and Neuroscience
ECE Summer School
Bochum, September 07-20, 2014
Organization: Sen Cheng, Kevin Reuter, Magdalena Sauvage, Boris Suchan, Markus Werning
Invited Speakers:
Alessio Avenanti U Bologna
Sven Bernecker UC Irvine
Jan Born U Tübingen
John Campbell UC Berkeley
Carl Craver U St Louis
Jozsef Csicsvari IST, Klosterneuburg
Alain Destexhe CNRS, Gif-sur-Yvette
Kim Graham Cardiff U
Michael Hasselmo Boston U
Lynn Nadel U Arizona
Karim Nader McGill U
Albert Newen U Bochum
Charan Ranganath UC Davis
Craig Stark UC Irvine
Thomas Suddendorf U Queensland
Jennifer Windt U Mainz
Who may apply: Master, PhD & advanced Bachelor students
In: Philosophy, Neuroscience, Psychology, or related fields
Deadline for applications: 20th April 2014
Phenomenal Mindreading: Attributing Conscious Experiences to Oneself and Others
November 21-23, 2013
Ruhr-University-Bochum, Germany
Organization: Kevin Reuter, Luca Barlassina, Albert Newen, Markus Werning
Investigating Semantics: Empirical and Philosophical Approaches
Bochum, October 10-12, 2013
Organization: Erica Cosentino, Dirk Kindermann, Max Kölbel, Maria Spychalska, Markus Werning.
Invited Speakers:
Giosue Baggio (SISSA, Triest)
Derek Ball (U St. Andrews)
Emma Borg (U Reading)
Anna Borghi (U Bologna)
Manfred Krifka (ZAS, Berlin)
Gina Kuperberg (MGH, Tufts U)
Michiel van Lambalgen (U Amsterdam)
Ira Noveck (CNRS, Lyon)
Paul Pietroski (U Maryland)
Submission Deadline (Extended): 30th June 2013
Quotation: Perspectives from Philosophy and Linguistics
Workshop
Bochum, September 27-29, 2012
Organization: Emar Maier & Markus Werning
Invited Speakers:
Regine Eckardt (U Göttingen, free indirect discourse)
Dan Everett (Bentley University, field linguistics)
Stefano Predelli (U Nottingham, philosophy)
Francois Recanati (Institut Jean Nicod/CNRS, Paris, philosophy)
Josep Quer Villanueva, (UPF Barcelona, sign language)
Chung-chieh Shan (U Tsukuba, semantics/computer science)
Mark de Vries (U Groningen, syntax)
Dag Westerstahl (U Stockholm, philosophy)
Agents and Causes
Interdisciplinary Aspects in Mind, Language and Culture
The workshop is devoted to the question what it means for an agent to be the cause of an action: What is the metaphysics of the agent role in causation? How is this role mentally represented? What are the linguistic structures that express the agent role and how do they vary across languages? What can go wrong in representing the agent role, e.g., in psychiatric disorders? These questions will be discussed by scientists from various disciplines, including Philosophy, Psychology, Neuroscience, Linguistics and Anthropology.
Date & Venue:
March 21 - 23, 2012, ZiF Bielefeld
Convenors:
Albert Newen (Bochum), Anne Springer (Potsdam), Christopher Topp (ZiF) and Markus Werning (Bochum)
Poster download
Semantics and Philosophy in Europe 4
The purpose of the SPE workshops is to enhance the dialogue between linguists and philosophers and to provide a new forum for presenting research in the interface between linguistic semantics and the related areas of philosophy (philosophy of language, logic, philosophy of mind, metaphysics, philosophy of mathematics, epistemology) . SPE takes place annually in different European cities. The previous meetings took place in Paris (SPE1, 2008), London (SPE2, 2009), and Paris (SPE3, 2010).
Date & Venue:
September 26 - October 1, 2011, Ruhr University Bochum
General Organization:
Prof. Dr. Markus Werning and Prof. Dr. Heinrich Wansing
Poster download
The Modularity of Mind
Date & Venue:
October 29 - October 30, 2010, Heinrich-Heine University of Düsseldorf
General Organization:
Markus Werning (Ruhr University Bochum)
Jürgen Zielasek (LVR-Klinikum Düsseldorf - Kliniken der Heinrich-Heine Universität)
Michela Tacca (Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf)
Poster download
Thinking of Events
What are events? Do they make up a distinct ontological category? Do they exist independently of objects? What are the linguistic means to talk about events? What does the semantics of natural language tell us about them? How are events cognitively represented? Is there a genuine neural realization of event representations? These are the topics we will discuss at the one-day workshop. Everybody interested is welcome to participate. To register, please send an email to the address shown below.
Date & Venue:
July 1, 2010, Ruhr University Bochum
General Organization:
Prof. Dr. Markus Werning and Dr. Michela Tacca
Poster download
Past Workshops
For workshops organized by Markus Werning before 2010 click on the web archive here.