A Tale of Two Substances: New Perspectives on the Mind-Body Problem
Institute of Philosophy
15 April 2026
25 May 2026
Workshop on Mind-Body Problem
This workshop focuses on the philosophical investigation of the mind–body problem, tracing its historical development and examining contemporary frameworks such as physicalism, dualism, and panpsychism. Through contributions from leading international scholars, the event aims to foster new directions of research on consciousness, mental causation, and subjective experience.
Program:
|
09.00-09.30 |
Gathering and introduction |
|
09.30-10.30 |
Micro-Latent or Conditional? No Powers to Reconcile with Physicalism Michele Paolini Paoletti (Università di Macerata) |
|
10.30-11.30 |
How to Solve the Hard Problem of Consciousness David Papineau (King’s College London) |
|
11.30-12.00 |
Coffee break |
|
12.00-13.00 |
Why our elusive idea of consciousness is one of the main obstacles in consciousness research – and how we can fix this Michael Pauen (Humboldt University, Berlin) |
|
13.00-14.30 |
Lunch |
|
14.30-15.30 |
“Naturalizing” the (human) mind: Neuroscience is (still) the focal point John Bickle (Mississippi State University) |
|
15.30-16.30 |
Was there Philosophy of Mind in the Middle Ages? John Marenbon (Cambridge University, Università della Svizzera Italiana) |
|
16.30-17.00 |
Coffee break |
|
17.00-18.00 |
Can physicalists believe in ego-dissolution? Philip Goff (Durham University) |
|
18.00-19.00 |
The Semantic Argument Against Physicalism and its Consequences Ralph Weir (University of Lincoln) |
Organisation
Ratio Association
Institute of Philosophy (FTL)
Place
Room Multiuso
Teologia
Campus Ovest
Via Buffi 13
Lugano, Switzerland
Informations and registration
[email protected]
