14 March 2018 , 19:00 - 20:00

MBB Symposium 2018 Public Keynote Lecture: Wolfgang Prinz (Leipzig)

“What it takes to explain consciousness” (in German)

Consciousness and subjectivity are considered enigmatic and somewhat elusive phenomena. This raises the question what counts as an appropriate explanation for them – one that satisfies our explanatory needs. I argue that we need foundational rather than correlational explanations. To illustrate what this means, I outline a theoretical framework that raises three major claims. (1) Consciousness relies on implicit self-representation; (2) Self-representation builds on social mirroring, i.e. modeling self on others; (3) Social kinds like self-representations are no less real and efficacious than natural kinds are.

The lecture is part of the MindBrainBody Symposium 2018: Link to website


All are welcome!