From arts.cave at mq.edu.au Tue Dec 5 12:16:44 2017 From: arts.cave at mq.edu.au (Centre for Agency, Values, and Ethics) Date: Tue, 5 Dec 2017 01:16:44 +0000 Subject: [SydPhil] Andy Clark Lecture Friday 8th Dec Message-ID: Dear All, On Friday 8th December Andy Clark with give a public lecture at 4-5.30 p.m. The lecture is designed to introduce many of the fundamental concepts of the predictive processing framework that will be discussed in detail at the workshop held the following week. The lecture will be held at the Macquarie University Incubator (easily found on google maps and next door to building Y3A, which has a cafe). [S8 on campus map.] Expecting the World: How Hallucinating Brains Turn Signals into Sense Biological brains are increasingly cast as ?prediction machines?: evolved organs whose core operating principle is to learn about the world by using stored knowledge to predict the incoming sensory signal. This casts perception as a form of ?highly controlled hallucination? in which sensory information delivers perceptual experience only relative to our own best predictions. I?ll show how these accounts blur the lines between perception, understanding, and imagination, and end by asking what all this suggests concerning the fundamental nature of our perceptual contact with the world. All welcome! Macquarie University Research Centre for Agency, Values and Ethics (CAVE) Department of Philosophy Macquarie University Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia CAVE website: mq.edu.au/cave www.facebook.com/MQCAVE -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From arts.cave at mq.edu.au Tue Dec 5 12:20:57 2017 From: arts.cave at mq.edu.au (Centre for Agency, Values, and Ethics) Date: Tue, 5 Dec 2017 01:20:57 +0000 Subject: [SydPhil] Predictive Engines: Andy Clark and Predictive Processing at Macquarie 11 - 13 Dec Message-ID: Hi all, Philosophers of mind and cognition are warming up to the consequences of the predictive processing framework for how we should explain the structure and function of the brain, cognitive processes and even consciousness. The unique selling point of the framework is that it will unify perception, cognition and action within a single explanatory framework (Friston and Stephan 2007, Hohwy 2013, Clark 2016). Even more astonishing is the claim that a single principle, the free energy principle, is the ultimate explanation for all of the above, as well as the evolution of the brain as a predictive engine (Friston 2013). In amongst the empirical applications of predictive processing, a diverging set of philosophical accounts of the framework have recently emerged. In particular Andy Clark?s (2013, 2016) action oriented account of the framework which gives more emphasis to the role of embodied action and Jakob Howhy?s (2013) account of the framework as largely a matter of internal predictive processes in the brain (Howhy 2013, Fabry 2017). These are important statements that frame predictive processing and the free energy principle in terms of externalism and internalism about the mind. This conference explores both the philosophical and empirical consequences of the predictive turn and brings together Clark and Hohwy at a conference in Australia for the first time. Conference venue: * Monday 11th 9.30 - 12 The Incubator Macquarie University, 13.00 - 17.00 Macquarie Theatre. * Tuesday 12th and Wednesday 13th The Incubator Macquarie University 9.30 - 16.30 [S8 on campus map.] Schedule of talks: Monday 11th The Incubator Macquarie University (can easily be found on google maps) 9.00 Opening remarks and welcome to country 9.30 ? 11.00 Andy Clark (Edinburgh/Macquarie) Only Predict: On the Nature, Scope and Limits of Predictive Processing 11.00 ? 12.00 David Kaplan (Macquarie) Bayesian Modelling, Constraints, and Unification 12.00 ? 13.00 Lunch (not provided) Macquarie Theatre: C5C T1, Wally?s Walk. 13.00 ? 14.00 Regina Fabry (Giessen) Into the Dark Room: A Predictive Processing Account of Major Depressive Disorder 14.00 ? 15.00 Michael Kirchhoff (Wollongong) Nested Markov Blankets and the Boundaries of Mind 15.00 ? 15.30 ? Coffee 15.30 ? 16.30 ? Richard Menary (Macquarie) Predictive Engines and the Free Energy Principle 16.30 ? 17.00 Discussion led by John Sutton (Macquarie) Tuesday 12th The Incubator Macquarie University 9.30 ? 11.00 Jakob Hohwy (Monash) Prediction Error Minimisation vs. Embodied Cognition 11.00 ? 12.00 Phillip Gerrans (Adelaide) SADness and Precision 12.00 ? 13.00 Lunch (not provided) 13.00 ? 14.00 Rachael Brown (ANU) Bridging the Gap: Plausibility, Enculturation and Cognition 14.00 ? 14.15 Coffee 14.15 ? 15.15 Sidney Carls-Diamante (Auckland) Predictive Processing in the Octopus: Issues and Implications 15.15 ? 16.15 Ken Cheng (Macquarie) Embodied, Extended, and Enactive Cognition in Animals: Varieties of Situated Cognition 19.00 Conference Dinner, registration required. Wednesday 13th The Incubator Macquarie University 9.30 ? 10 Coffee 10 ? 11.30 Jennifer Windt (Monash) Bodily Self-sampling & the Body-Brain-Body Problem: A Predictive Processing Perspective on Dreams & Sleep 11.30 ? 12.30 Dan Hutto (Wollongong) Getting Into Predictive Processing's Great Guessing Game: Bootstrap Heaven or Hell? 12.30 ? 1.30 Lunch (not provided) 1.30 ? 2.30 Colin Wastell (Macquarie) Responding to novel problems: Complex Emergent Modularity and Predictive Processing 2.30 ? 3.00 Coffee 3.00 ? 4.00 Colin Klein (Macquarie) Belief and Desire, Credence and Value, The Good and The Typical, and Other Pairs you Probably Shouldn?t Identify. 4.00 Final remarks ? Richard Menary (Macquarie) Attending the conference is free, but spaces are limited. Please contact Alex Gillett if you would like to attend: alexander-james.gillett at students.mq.edu.au Macquarie University Research Centre for Agency, Values and Ethics (CAVE) Department of Philosophy Macquarie University Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia CAVE website: mq.edu.au/cave www.facebook.com/MQCAVE -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From philosophy at westernsydney.edu.au Thu Dec 7 17:13:34 2017 From: philosophy at westernsydney.edu.au (PhilosophyatWesternSydney) Date: Thu, 7 Dec 2017 06:13:34 +0000 Subject: [SydPhil] MA in Continental Philosophy In-Reply-To: <139634278660844DAA9851723F723C5DB7792613@HIRT.AD.UWS.EDU.AU> References: <139634278660844DAA9851723F723C5DB7792613@HIRT.AD.UWS.EDU.AU> Message-ID: Dear All, The MA in Continental Philosophy at Western Sydney University (www.westernsydney.edu.au/philosophyMA) will be entering its third year in 2018. We offer a wide array of units in philosophy as well as the option for the students to write a thesis. Our MA is designed in such a way that domestic students can use Fee-Help for the first year of study and they will not have to pay fees in their second year. Information specifically designed for Australian students is available here: www.westernsydney.edu.au/philosophy/MA_domestic_FAQ Enrolments in the program are now open. The UAC deadline for enrolments is February 16, 2018. Please contact us if you are interested in our program and have any further questions. All the best, Dimitris - - - - - - - - - Dimitris Vardoulakis Western Sydney University School of Humanities and Communication Arts Bankstown Campus, 7.G.10 Locked Bag 1797 Penrith, NSW 2751 AUSTRALIA tel: +61 2 9772 6808 www.westernsydney.edu.au/philosophy -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ysjames at gmail.com Fri Dec 8 13:27:52 2017 From: ysjames at gmail.com (Yves Aquino) Date: Fri, 8 Dec 2017 13:27:52 +1100 Subject: [SydPhil] CAVE Workshop: Ethics of Pathologising Ugliness, Macquarie University, 19 March 2018 Message-ID: Hi all, Apologies for cross-posting. *Save the date*: for a one-day workshop on the ethics of pathologising ugliness hosted by the Macquarie University Research Centre for Agency, Values, and Ethics (CAVE). All welcome, but please register for catering purposes with Yves (yves-saint-james.aquino at students.mq.edu.au). An Interdisciplinary Workshop on the Ethics of Pathologising Ugliness Date: 19 March 2018, Monday Time: 09.30 to 17:00 Venue: Macquarie University The aim of the workshop is to foster an interdisciplinary discussion on the ethics of pathologising ugliness. By ?pathologising ugliness? we mean the process of reframing physical features deemed unattractive as disorders. Pathologisation of ugliness arises from the interplay of aesthetic, socio-cultural, legal and medical norms. Medical and surgical procedures that modify physical attributes purely for cosmetic reasons are increasing in scope and frequency, fostering the belief that ugliness can and should be treated as a medical problem. The pathologisation of ugliness has serious ethical implications regarding the goals of medicine, as well as our understandings of health and disease. In this workshop, we hope to examine the extent to which gendered, able-bodied and racial norms merge in the pathological framing of ugliness. Workshop speakers include experts in the fields of philosophy, law, medicine and gender and cultural studies, who will explore various norms that inform our understanding of ugliness and the factors that promote its pathologisation. Confirmed speakers: - Prof Anand Deva, Macquarie University Hospital, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Clinic - Prof Isabel Karpin, University of Technology Sydney, Faculty of Law - A/Prof Robert Sinnerbrink, Macquarie University, Department of Philosophy - A/Prof Joanna Elfving-Hwang, University of Western Australia, Faculty of Arts, Asian Studies - Yves Saint James Aquino, Macquarie University, Department of Philosophy More details to follow. Regards, -- Dr. Yves Saint James C. Aquino, MD PhD Candidate Department of Philosophy Macquarie University -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From calendar-notification at google.com Fri Dec 8 15:00:10 2017 From: calendar-notification at google.com (Google Calendar) Date: Fri, 08 Dec 2017 04:00:10 +0000 Subject: [SydPhil] Notification: Alexander Klimenko @ Thu 14 Dec 2017 15:00 - 16:30 (Current Projects) Message-ID: <001a1148464491ac08055fcc3868@google.com> This is a notification for: Title: Alexander Klimenko The direction of time and thermodynamic invariance The physical mechanisms enacting the direction of time remain one of the most guarded secrets of nature. In this presentation we try to look into these secrets and explore the hypothesis that the perceived direction of time has thermodynamic origins. Over the years, this hypothesis was advocated by a number of prominent scientists (e.g. Boltzmann, Hawking) but is still not widely known. There are two reasons behind this. First, overwhelming majority of people (including most physicists) tend to implicitly accept ?the natural flow of time? based on common intuition as a working model. Second, accepting one hypothesis or the other does not seem to have any practical implications --- nether of the assumptions is seen to produce a testable physical theory capable of discriminating these assumptions. So far, consistent investigation of the nature of time has been largely confined to the domain of philosophy, where numerous attempts to build a logical scheme around our intuitive perception of time have faced mounting difficulties. It appears, however, that Boltzmann?s time hypothesis does have physical implications and does raise important questions. If this hypothesis is accepted, thermodynamics can have two possible versions with respect to matter/antimatter duality --- symmetric (CP-invariant) and antisymmetric (CPT-invariant). These versions are mutually incompatible and only one of them can be real. The choice between these versions can be tested experimentally, although this is not a simple matter, even at the present level of technology. In this presentation we will discuss the direction of time and explore implications of these versions of thermodynamics. When: Thu 14 Dec 2017 15:00 ? 16:30 Eastern Time - Melbourne, Sydney Calendar: Current Projects Who: * Kristie Miller- creator Event details: https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/44GqB7UWJg1DT1?domain=google.com Invitation from Google Calendar: https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/drxzBeugwQNlTd?domain=google.com You are receiving this email at the account sydphil at arts.usyd.edu.au because you are subscribed for notifications on calendar Current Projects. To stop receiving these emails, please log in to https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/drxzBeugwQNlTd?domain=google.com and change your notification settings for this calendar. Forwarding this invitation could allow any recipient to modify your RSVP response. Learn more at https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/Db1pBJUYb0lau4?domain=support.google.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: