This summer school invites students from philosophy, psychology, and cognitive neuroscience to discuss questions and initial results from the interdisciplinary research project "Neutral by Choice," co-led by Verena Wagner (Philosophy, HU Berlin), Christoph Korn (Cognitive Neuroscience, U Heidelberg), and Yulia Oganian (Cognitive Neuroscience, U Tübingen). The project is funded by the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities.
The general aim of the project is to develop an empirically informed theory of cognitive neutrality that accounts for distinct mental phenomena such as mere indecision and various forms of suspension of judgment. States of neutrality are systematically underrepresented in both contemporary philosophical theories and cognitive neuroscience. In both fields, this neglect results from an oversimplification of decision-making. In experimental approaches, neutral outcomes are typically avoided by employing forced-choice alternatives.
This project seeks to restore the lost complexity of decision-making and develop a more naturalistic understanding that includes the option of being neutral by choice. We will begin with a philosophical framework that describes various intuitive forms of cognitive neutrality. This framework will be translated into empirically assessable parameters, and we will develop new methods for measuring different forms of neutrality in two key human decision-making contexts: sensory perception and human cooperation scenarios.
HU students of Mind and Brain or Philosophy (no ÜWP) may earn credits through active participation. No term paper (essays, Hausarbeit) is possible. Due to limited capacity and high demand, spots will be allocated by lottery. Details about admission will be published around mid-May on this website:
https://www.mind-and-brain.de/people/philosophy-of-mind-group-wagner/workshops-events/neutral-by-choice
In the meantime, we kindly ask for your patience and thank you for understanding that we cannot offer individual responses or guidance at this stage.
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