SEPTEMBER

[09/01/2010]

Update, finally!

Things have been busy this year, busier than usual, and I haven't updated the page for quite a while. Here, in a nutshell, is what has happened since last November.

I had two job offers, one from the University of Leuven (Belgium), the other from the University of Bielefeld (Germany). I had to turn down the offer from Leuven, but I'm still negotiating with Bielefeld.

A revised version of the paper entitled "Wie frei sind wir eigentlich -- empirisch?" (in German), referred to below, has in the meantime been published by Philosophia Naturalis.

A revised version of the paper entitled "Zombies, Dualismus und Physikalismus" (in German), referred to below, is now forthcoming in the Zeitschrift für philosophische Forschung.

A revised version of the paper Cognitive Extension: The Parity Argument, Functionalism, and the Mark of the Cognitive, also referred to below, is now forthcoming in Synthese.

Over the year, I gave a bunch of talks, including one on "Der neurowissenschaftliche Angriff auf unsere Freiheit: Welche Fragen kann die Kognitionswissenschaft beantworten?" in May at the University of Graz (here are the slides), one on "Realization and Extended Beliefs" also in May at the University of Rijeka (here are the slides), and one on "Freiheit, Verantwortung, Schuld: Welche Fragen können die Naturwissenschaften beantworten?" in July at the University of Bielefeld (here are the slides).

Here is a paper entitled "The Where and What of Cognition: The Untenability of Cognitive Agnosticism and the Limits of the Motley Crew Argument", written together with Lena Kästner (now Bochum), which will be submitted in some form or other soon.

Here is a draft of a paper entitled "Natürlich defekt? Zweck und Natur in Moralphilosophie und Krankheitstheorie" (in German) that Kerrin Jacobs and I have written for a volume on Zweck und Natur, edited by Tobias Schlicht.

Here is a draft of a paper entitled "Freiheit, Verantwortung, Schuld: Was können uns die Naturwissenschaften sagen?" (in German) that I have written for a volume on Brauchen wir eine neue Ethik, edited by Gilbert Scharifi.

NOVEMBER

[11/10/2009]

Here is my contribution to the 2. Osnabruecker Wissensforum (a cooperation of the university and the local newspaper). I had four minutes to answer the question "Ist unser freier Wille nur eine Illusion?" ("Is free will an illusion?").

[11/09/2009]

Here is a paper entitled "Wie frei sind wir eigentlich -- empirisch?" (in German), which will be submitted in some form or other soon.

[11/02/2009]

Here is a draft of a paper entitled "Historical Perspectives on the What and Where of Cognition" that Lena Kästner (UCL, London) and I have written for a volume on New Perspectives on the History of Cognitive Science, edited by Csaba Pléh, Lilia Gurova, and László Ropolyi.

OCTOBER

[10/18/2009]

From October 26 to 30, I will visit the University of Belgrade, where I will give three talks on extended cognition. The titles are: "Models of the Mind: A Historical Perspective", "Cognitive Extension, and how to Argue for it", and "Some Problems with Cognitive Extension".

[10/17/2009]

Here is a paper entitled "Freiheit und Kontrolle: Plädoyer für einen moderaten skeptischen Kompatibilismus" (in German), currently under review.

[10/07/2009]

I am one of six new members of the ZiF Network of Young Scientists that were elected for a period of five years in October 2009.

[10/04/2009]

Here is a draft of a paper on "Cognitive Extension: The Parity Argument, Functionalism, and the Mark of the Cognitive".

SEPTEMBER

[09/17/2009]

The paper on "Locked-in Syndrome, BCI, and a Confusion about Embodied, Embedded, Extended, and Enacted Cognition" will soon appear in Neuroethics. Here is the official link.

[09/12/2009]

Here is a paper entitled "Zombies, Dualismus und Physikalismus" (in German), currently under review.

AUGUST

[08/14/2009]

Miriam Kyselo and I have written a review of Fred Adams and Ken Aizawa's The Bounds of Cognition (2008, Blackwell), which has now appeared in the latest issue of Erkenntnis. Here is the official link.

[08/07/2009]

I'm on the way for this year's Wittgenstein Conference of the ALWS in Kirchberg, Austria. Lena Kästner and I will give a joint talk on "Cognition in the World? Functionalism and Extended Cognition"

[08/06/2009]

Here is the first draft of a paper entitled "Locked-in Syndrome, BCI, and a Confusion about Embodied, Embedded, Extended, and Enacted Cognition"

[08/02/2009]

The paper "Taking Realization Seriously: No Cure for Epiphobia" is now forthcoming in Philosophical Studies and available here.

[08/01/2009]

I have lately been involved in the organization of three conferences, all of them to be hold in 2009. On September 17 and 18 there will be a conference (in German) on "Freiheit und Verantwortung: Revolutioniert die Kognitionswissenschaft Recht und Moral?" in Bremen. Details can be found here. On November 23-25, there will be a conference on "The Extended Mind Thesis in Theory and Application" in Bielefeld, organized by Holger Lyre, Ipke Wachsmuth, and myself. Details can be found here.. Finally, on November 26, there will be a conference on "Cognitive Systems and the Extended Mind" in Osnabrueck. Details can be found here.

JULY

[06/07/2009]

I was attending to the Metaphysics of Mind / Consciousness conferences in Edinburgh. Here are the slides of my "Realization, Causal Powers, and Mental Causation" Talk.

[01/07/2009]

Markus Eronen and I have just finished a draft of a paper on "Reduction, Multiple Realization, and Levels of Reality" that was invited for the Continuum Companion to the Philosophy of Science, edited by Steven French and Juha Saatsi.

JUNE

[10/06/2009]

I'm back from Rijeka, and I really enjoyed the conference. Here are the slides of my "Functionalism and Extended Cognition" Talk. In the meantime, I have completed the outline of a book on Extended Cognition and Functionalism. I'll keep you updated as things progress (which I hope they will).

MAY

[14/05/2009]

My colleagues Susanne Erk (Neuroimaging, Bonn), Achim Stephan (Philosophy, Osnabrueck), Henrik Walter (Neuropsychiatry, Bonn) and I just received a 850.000€ grant from the Volkswagenfoundation for a three year project on Existential Feelings, Psychopathology and the Range of Evolutionary Explanations. Four postdoc positions (two in philosophy, one in psychiatry and one in neuroimaging are going to be announced soon.

APRIL

[26/04/2009]

On July 6th, I'm going to give a talk on 'Causal Powers, Realization, and Mental Causation' at the Metaphysics of Mind conference in Edinburgh, organized by Jesper Kallestrup.

[21/04/2009]

On May 28th and 29th, I'm attending to this year's Rijkeka Philosophy Conference. I'm going to give a talk entitled 'Functionalism and Extended Cognition'.

MARCH

[26/03/2009]

Here is the first draft of an entry on "Genotype and Phenotype" (in German) that Hartmut Wilke and I have written for the Handbook of Evolution (Handbuch Evolution), edited by P. Sarasin, M. Sommer & T.P. Weber. It's a draft only, for citation please wait for the printed version.

[25/03/2009]

On April 1 to April 4, the Insitute of Cognitive Science will host the first Graduate Conference COXImap - Mind, Action, and Perception and the first William James Lectures (delivered by Jesse Prinz, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill). For more information see here.

[22/03/2009]

I finally managed to update the whole website. The publications, teaching and professional service sites are now up to date.

[20/03/2009]

Here is the first draft of a review of Andy Clark's recent book Supersizing the Mind that Miriam Kyselo and I have written for Philosophical Psychology; it's not yet the final version, but a nice early draft.

[01/03/2009]

Here is the first draft of an entry on "Genetic Drift" (in German) that Lena Kästner and I have written for the Handbook of Evolution (Handbuch Evolution), edited by P. Sarasin, M. Sommer & T.P. Weber. It's a draft only, for citation please wait for the printed version.

FEBRUARY

[23/02/2009]

Here is a draft of a paper entitled "Nicht-reduktiver Physikalismus, Realisierung, und mentale Verursachung" (in German), forthcoming in a book edited by Jan Michel (Muenster).

[19/02/2009]

Here is a revised draft of of the entry on "Psychology and Psychiatry" (in German) for the Handbook of Evolution (see below). It's a draft only, for citation please wait for the printed version.

JANUARY

[30/01/2009]

Here is (finally) a more critical review of Fred Adams and Ken Aizawa's recent book The Bounds of Cognition (Blackwell, 2008), co-authored with Miriam kyselo and forthcoming in Erkenntnis. I'm still planning to expand it in the near future into a more lengthy crictical discussion of Adams and Aizawa's book.

[29/01/2009]

Here is a review of Anthony Dardis' recent book Mental Causation (New York University Press, 2008), written for Metapsychology Online.

NOVEMBER

[20/11/2008]

Here is the first draft of an entry on "Psychology and Psychiatry" (in German), written for the Handbook of Evolution, edited by P. Sarasin, M. Sommer & T.P. Weber. It's definitely not the final version, but a nice first draft.

[18/11/2008]

Here is more or less an (expanded) English version of the realization paper below. It's entitled "Taking Realization Seriously: No Cure for Epiphobia" and currently under review.

[11/11/2008]

Here is a paper (in German) entitled "Realisierung und mentale Verursachung" in which I argue that recent attempts to explicate the realization relation against the background of a causal theory of properties cannot help solve the mental causation problem. The paper is currently under review.

[07/11/2008]

Here is a video of my talk at the 1. Osnabruecker Wissensforum (a cooperation of the university and the local newspaper). I had four minutes to answer the question whether intelligence is sufficient for success.

SEPTEMBER

[18/09/2008]

Here is a merely descriptive, uncritical review of Fred Adams and Ken Aizawa's recent book The Bounds of Cognition (Blackwell, 2008), written for Metapsychology Online. I plan to revise it in the near future into a more lengthy crictical discussion, in which I'll be trying to defend the extended mind hypothesis against the objections raised by Adams and Aizawa.

[15/09/2008]

Here is a first draft of a review article on Evolutionary Psychology, written for the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. The paper will be revised again before publication.

[09/09/2008]

Here is a first draft of a review of Robert Richardson's, "Evolutionary Psychology as Maladapted Psychology" (2008, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press) which will eventually by forthcoming in Mind.

JULY

[07/25/2008]

Here is a paper I've co-authored with Miriam Kyselo. It's entitled "The Extended Mind Thesis and the Causal Role of Beliefs" in which we defend Clark and Chalmers' claim that cognitive states likes, e.g., beliefs can extend into the environent if the believer and an external device are appropriately coupled against a recent objection by Dan Weiskopf. The paper is currently under review.

[07/18/2008]

Here is a really brief review of John Baer, James Kaufman, and Roy Baumeister (eds.), "Are We Free? Psychology and Free Will" (2008, New York: Oxford University Press); the review is is forthcoming in the Journal of Consciousness Studies.

[07/16/2008]

Here is a review (in German) of Tillmann Vierkant's anthology "Willenshandlungen: Zur Natur und Kultur der Selbststeuerung" (2008, Frankfurt a.M.: Suhrkamp); the review is currently under consideration for publication.

[07/08/2008]

Here is my talk for this year's conference of the Austrian Ludwig Wittgenstein Society in Kirchberg this August; it's entitled 'The Supervenience Argument, Levels, Orders, and Psychophysical Reductions.'

MAY

[05/13/2008]

There hasn't been much news recently. I have mostly been busy working on papers and two books which are in progress, but as of yet, nothing publishable has been forthcoming.

I will be visiting a couple of conferences, workshops, and other events this year.

On June 12 and 13, I will be at a plenary discussion on 'KREATIV - INNOVATIV - GENIAL. Was brauchen Forscher, um gute Einfälle zu haben', sponsored by the Volkswagenstiftung in Hannover.

On June 28 and 29, I will be at a conference on 'Consciousness, Agency, and the Will', hosted by the University of Edinburgh.

From August 9 to August 14, I will be at this years conference of the Austrian Ludwig Wittgenstein Society in Kirchberg am Wechsel, Austria.

From September 15 to September 19, I will be at this years conference of the German Society for Philosophy, DGPhil, in Duisburg.

On September 22 and 23, I will be at a two day workshop on the philosophy of Fred Dretske, organized by Andreas Kemmerling, Heidelberg.

From September 28 to October 2, I will be at at a ZIF conference on emotions, organized by Achim Stephan und Henrik Walter, in Bielefeld.

Finally, on October 9 and 10, I will be at a small conference on Neuroethics, organized by the philosophy department at the University of Saarland.

DECEMBER

[12/25/2007]

Here is a paper entitled 'Epiphenomenalism and the Notion of Causation' which is forthcoming in the proceedings of the 8th international conference of the ÖGP, the Austrian Society for Philosophy.

[12/16/2007]

Here is a short paper on epiphenomenalism which is forthcoming in the Oxford Handbook for the Philosophy of Mind, edited by Brian McLauhlin, Ansgar Beckermann, and myself.

[12/03/2007]

The paper entitled "The Supervenience Argument, Overdetermination, and Causal Drainage: Assessing Kim's Master-Argument" has been accepted for publication in Philosophical Psychology. Here is the final version.

NOVEMBER

[11/07/2007]

Here is a first draft of an invited overview article on mental causation (in German) for Information Philosophie.

OCTOBER

[10/31/2007]

On November 12 I'm going to give a talk in Munich at the Munich Center for Neurosciences - Brain & Mind entitled "What is Consciousness Good for? The Evolutionary Argument against Epiphenomenalism".

[10/30/2007]

The paper "Ist der Epiphänomenalismus absurd? Ein frischer Blick auf eine tot gelaubte Position?" is going to appear in Zeitschrift für philosophische Forschung in 2008. Here is the final version.

[10/16/2007]

On November 15 I'm going to give a talk at the Forum für Philosophie in Frankfurt a.M., entitled "We Do What We Want. But Why?" (German title: "Wir tun, was wir wollen. Aber warum?")

SEPTEMBER

[09/06/2007]

Here is a somewhat lenghty paper entitled "The Supervenience Argument, Overdetermination, and Causal Drainage: Assessing Kim's Master-Argument" which is currently under review.

JULY

[07/27/2007]

Here is a somewhat lenghty review of William Banks, Shaun Gallagher and Susan Pockett's anthology "Does Consciousness Cause Behavior? " (2006, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press); the review is forthcoming in the 2008 issue of Logical Analysis and History of Philosophy.

[07/11/2007]

Here is a shortened review (in German) of Thomas Buchheim and Thorsten Pietrek's anthology "Freiheit auf Basis von Natur" (2007, Paderborn: mentis); it will appear in the 4/2007 issue of Zeitschrift für philosophische Forschung.

[07/07/2007]

Here is a paper (in German) entitled "Is Epiphenomenalism Absurd?" (German title: "Ist der Epiphänomenalismus absurd? Ein frischer Blick auf eine tot gelaubte Position?" which is currently under review.

JUNE

[06/19/2007]

Here is a paper entitled "The Epistemological Approach to Mental Causation" which is forthcoming in Erkenntnis

[06/13/2007]

Here is a review (in German) of Thomas Buchheim and Thorsten Pietrek's anthology "Freiheit auf Basis von Natur" (2007, Paderborn: mentis); the review is currently under consideration for publication.

MAY

[05/01/2007]

From June 7 – June 10 I was in Graz, Austria, attending to the 8th international conference of the ÖGP, the Austrian Society for Philosophy where I gave entitled ‘Making Sense of Epiphenomenalism’.