Leiden, September 22-23-24, 1997

MIND AND WORLD
Where does meaning come from?

Modern philosophy was born when the fit between mind and world lost its innocence. The skeptical question arose of how the mind can reach out to the external world, or how the alien world of dumb and inert matter can convey itself to the mind. Answers to this question traditionally divide in roughly two groups, reflecting two conflicting views of the relation between language, perception and reality. Empiricists hope to secure a natural and rational fit between mind and world by endorsing some version of the 'Myth of the Given', as it was called by Wilfrid Sellars. Coherentists, by contrast, dismissing the Given, try to account for objective knowledge in terms of the internal coherence of our system of beliefs.

In his John Locke Lectures delivered at Oxford University in 1991, published as Mind and World (1994), John McDowell argued that the two traditional responses are both unsatisfactory. According to McDowell, the 'problem of the external world' roots in a particular view of perception that is closely associated with the rise of the modern scientific Weltbild and that is shared by empiricists and coherentists alike. McDowell criticizes this 'interface view of per-ception', with its 'veil of re-presentations' between us and the world. Moreover, he argues that no scientific/naturalist account of perception can capture our essential openness to the world or responsiveness to meaning. It is this basic openness that McDowell seeks to articulate. Characteristic of McDowell's position is that it proposes a radically non-solipsist notion of mind and a 'rich' or 're-enchanted' notion of world, attempting to restore the lost fit between mind and world and regain, at least in part, the innocence of pre-Cartesian thought. The alternative view defended by McDowell has important consequences for epistemology and philosophy of mind, as well as for ethics.

In a similar vein, Gregory McCulloch has taken issue with the idea that the mind is 'inside the head', the idea that the mind is essentially separable from the world and even from the body it inhabits. In his most recent book, The mind and its world (1995), McCulloch traces the history of this view from Descartes through Locke, Frege and Wittgenstein to modern psychology, cognitive science and artificial intelligence. McCulloch tries to develop a radically non-Cartesian alternative which presses the idea that the mind is constituted by the objects which are its phenomena.

The aim of the Leiden Conference on Mind and World is to discuss these new developments in analytic philosophy, focusing in particular on McDowell's alternative conception of mind and world. Papers will be given by John McDowell (Pittsburgh), Gregory McCulloch (Birmingham), Pamela Kribbe (Nijmegen), Menno Lievers (Utrecht /Oxford), Herman Philipse (Leiden), Yaron Schwartz (Leuven/Jerusalem), Jan Sleutels (Leiden), and others.

Suggested reading

John McDowell, Mind and world. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1994.

Gregory McCulloch, The mind and its world. Routlegde, London, 1995.

Wilfrid Sellars, 'Empiricism and the philosophy of mind'. In: Science, perception and reality. Routledge, London, 1963. Recently reprinted as a monograph, Empiricism and the philosophy of mind. With an introduction by Richard Rorty. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1997

Location

The conference will be held at Leiden University, in the centre of the historical town of Leiden. Details will duly be announced. Registered participants receive notification. Hotel Accommodation Leiden hosts a number of hotel facilities in the vicinity of the conference rooms. A brochure from the Tourist Information Centre is available, which will be sent to registered participants.

Program

The conference will be held at Leiden University, in the centre of the historical town of Leiden. The three-day program includes the following lectures and discussion sessions: three lectures by John McDowell two lectures by Gregory McCulloch lectures by Pamela Kribbe, Menno Lievers, Herman Philipse, Yaron Schwartz, Jan Sleutels two discussion sessions with brief presentations and comments from McDowell. All lectures will be followed by public discussion. A detailed program will duly be sent to registered participants.

For more information visit the conference webpage at http://www.leidenuniv.nl/philosophy/ Participation The workshop is open to all interested staff members, graduate students and advanced doctoral students working in the fields of knowledge, perception, language and metaphysics. Admission is free of charge, but only a limited number of places is available. Registration is strongly advised, preferably by telephone number (071) 512 01 45, or email to prkribbe@pi.net For news and details, visit our webpage at http://www.leidenuniv.nl/philosophy/