Logic List Mailing Archive

CC2013: Concepts and categorization in linguistics, cognitive science and philosophy

15-16 May 2013
Duesseldorf, Germany

Workshop at the Heinrich-Heine-Universitt Dsseldorf, May 15-16, 2013 
"Concepts and categorization in linguistics, cognitive science and 
philosophy" (CC2013)

??he study of concepts lies at the intersection of various scientific 
disciplines, both formal and empiric. Linguistics deals with concepts as 
basic semantic units of natural (or ideal) languages, aiming to uncover 
their logical constitution and structural relationships within a given 
linguistic system. Cognitive science is interested in concepts insofar as 
they are the constituents of thought - e.g. some kind of mental entities 
(or objects) - which are used in an explanation of such diverse 
psychological phenomena like categorization, inference, memory, learning, 
and decision-making. In philosophy the challenge imposed by concepts 
consists, among other things, in linking a theory of intentional content 
with a theory of knowledge (e.g. Peacocke?s challenging question: "How can 
our conception of truth in one area be reconciled with the means by which 
we think we come to know truth about that area?") and thereby establishing 
a relationship between reference, knowledge and realit
  y, putting the notion of "concept" in the broader area of epistemological 
and metaphysical issues.

??n recent research - for instance in the development and discussion of 
Minsky's and Barsalou's frame-theory -, linguists, cognitive scientists 
and philosophers have collaborated more and more to contribute to a 
unified understanding of concepts and conceptual categorization. As 
welcome as this interdisciplinary programme is, however, the joint venture 
suffers (so far) from the fact that it is generally left unclear how 
exactly the different studies on concepts and categorization undertaken in 
the participating sciences relate to each other. What do linguists, 
cognitive scientists and philosophers mean by the notion of ?concept?? Is 
there some sort of core-theory of concepts and conceptual categorization 
underlying linguistic, psychological and philosophical research? If not, 
how and why do the specific theories differ?

??eynote Speakers:

Hans-Johann Glock, Universitt Zrich, Switzerland
Matthias Kaufmann, Martin-Luther-Universitt Halle-Wittenberg, Germany
Edouard Machery, University of Pittsburgh, USA
Albert Newen, Ruhr-Universitt Bochum, Germany

??he workshop is organized by the projects A01 ?Mathematical modeling of 
frames? and A05 "Presuppositions of Frame Theory in the History of 
Philosophy" in the Collaborative Research Centre CRC991 "The Structure of 
Representations in Language, Cognition and Science" funded by the Deutsche 
Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG).

??ttp://www.sfb991.uni-duesseldorf.de/en/the-structure-of-representations-in-language-cognition-and-science/

??mportant dates: Extended deadline for submission of abstracts (500-700 
words): February 10, 2013 Notification of acceptance: March 1, 2013

Workshop: May 15-16, 2013

Please submit abstracts in .doc or .pdf format to:cc2013@phil.hhu.de.

??rganizational team: Tanja Osswald, Lars Inderelst, David Hommen