ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ

Centre for Cognitive Science (COGS)

Workshop on Emergence: Not handwaving, but grounding?

Centre for Cognitive Science (COGS), ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ
Tuesday 7 June 2022, 2 – 7 pm
Zoom webinar
Registration: link below

The concept of emergence as a way of understandinghow new kinds of things come to be in the world, from cells to societies, grounded in but not ‘merely’ composed of material stuff, has a long and controversial historyFor detractors it is handwaving at best, magical dualism at worstFor fans it holds out the possibility of accounting for the autonomous causal capacities of living things in a way still grounded in physical realityRecently, new work based in the formal modeling of dynamic systems has created the possibility of fusing the philosophical and empirical approaches to form a new synthesis. 

This workshop brings together expertsonemergence with the aim of forming this synthesisThere will be two panelsdiscussing their respective positions following brief presentations of these.In the final session, discussants will be invited to ask questions, and the audience will have the opportunity to participate. 

In the gapsMax Cooper (an audio-visual artist with a PhD in computational biology) will talk about and share some work from his Emergence project. 

2pm – Introductions 

Panel 1 

  • 2:15 – Lionel Barnett 

  • 2:30 – Jessica Wilson  

  • 2:45 – Oliver Sartenaer 

  • 3:00 – Michael Silberstein 

  • 3:15-3:45 – discussion  

Interlude with Max Cooper 

Panel 2 

  • 4:00 – Fernando e Rosas 

  • 4:15 – Carolyn Dicey Jennings 

  • 4:30 – Jessica Flack 

  • 4:45 – Lauren Ross 

  • 5:00 – Mark Bedau 

  • 5:15-5:45 – discussion  

Interlude 2 

6:00-7:00 Questions & answers 

The event is hosted by the ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ Centre for Cognitive Science (COGS)

Workshop organiser/further details:

The workshop is open to everyone.  There is no charge for attendance, but places are limited.  Please register here: 

 Emergence workshop poster

Video: