Organized by Karsten Stueber, Department of Philosophy

The last two decades have seen an explosive growth in research and an intense debate about our ability to understand the mind of others. Neuroscience, psychology, and philosophy, among others, share an interest in how we know other minds, for it is the psychological foundation for our ability to be social animals and to become full members of society. Without such knowledge we are limited in forming social bonds or in being initiated into basic social practices such as speaking a common language. In addition, discussions about the psychological processes involved in interpreting the minds of others have remained largely separate from the venerable discussion about our ability to relate to others in an altruistic and ethical manner. Only recently have we begun to discuss the nature of moral agency in light of new insights derived from contemporary research. This conference will bring together researchers from a variety of disciplines and a variety of distinct research traditions to discuss how we should conceive of our ability to know other minds, how others affect our capacity for moral judgment, and how we gain an ethical perspective toward other persons.

Schedule

 All talks will take place in the Rehm Library in Smith Hall

 Thursday, April 19

 1:00 – 2:00 PM Registration and Refreshments
Moran Lounge, Smith Hall

2:00 PM Introductory Remarks
Karsten Stueber (College of the Holy Cross)

2:30 – 5:30 PM Contributed Session I: Empathy
Amy Coplan (California State University, Fullerton) Understanding Empathy
Heather Battaly (California State University, Fullerton) Empathy: Virtue or Skill?
Andrew Terjesen (Washington and Lee University) Degrees of Empathy and their Importance for Moral Judgment
Anne Jaap Jacobson (University of Houston) The Emotional Given and Moral Behavior

5:30 –7:30 PM Dinner
Hogan Campus Center , Room 402

7:30 PM Welcome
William Shea, Director, Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture
Timothy Austin, Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean of the College

Keynote Address
Martin Hoffman ( New York University) What We Know about Empathy and Where to Go from Here

Friday, April 20

9:00 – 12:00 PM Contributed Session II: Social Cognition and Folk Psychological Explanations
Michelle Maiese ( Emmanuel College) Affective Framing and Social Cognition
Axel Seeman ( Bentley College) Joint Attention, Affective Perception and Trust
Dan Hutto ( University of Hertfordshire) Mimetic Sharing without Theory of Mind
Adina Roskies ( Dartmouth College) Perceiving Persons and the Problem of Other Minds

12:00 – 1:30 PM Lunch

1:30 – 4:15 PM Panel I: Morality in Humans and Other Animals
Joan Silk ( University of California, Los Angeles) Why Apes Don't Recycle: The (Missing) Ingredients of Prosocial Preferences
Colin Allen ( Indiana University) Expressing Pain and Expressing Disapproval: An Expressivist Origin for Moral Cognition?
Marc Hauser ( Harvard University) Evolving the Building Blocks of a Moral Grammar

4:15 – 4:45 PM Coffee Break
Moran Lounge

4:45 – 7:30 PM Panel II: The Glue of the Social: The Ubiquity of Imitation and Mimicry
Hugo Theoret ( University of Montreal) The Neurophysiology of Embodied Simulation
John Bargh ( Yale University) Primes and Memes
Alvin Goldman ( Rutgers University) Two Routes to Empathy: Mirroring and Self-Projection

Saturday, April 21

9:15 –12:00 PM Panel III: Ethics and the Nature of Folk Psychology
Kristin Andrews ( York University, Canada) Natural Moral Psychologists
Bertram Malle ( University of Oregon) Intentionality, Moral Judgment, and their Rocky Relationship
Karsten Stueber (College of the Holy Cross) The Ethical Dimension of Folk Psychology?

12:00 – 1:30 PM Lunch
Crossroads, ground level of Hogan Campus Center

1:30 – 3:45 PM Contributed Session III: Moral Agency Revisited
Maureen Sie ( Erasmus University of Rotterdam) Delegated Moral Agency
Wendell Wallach ( Yale University) Robot Minds and Human Ethics
Andrew Sneddon ( University of Ottawa) Trolleys, Teacups and Tough Choices: Emotions vs. Rules in Moral Dilemmas

3:45 – 4:15 PM Coffee Break
Moran Lounge

4:15 – 7:00 PM Panel IV: Emotions and the Moral Sense
Heidi Maibom ( Carleton University and Princeton University) Shame
Peter Goldie ( Manchester University) Emotions and Thick Ethical Concepts
Stephen Darwall ( University of Michigan): Second-Personal Moral Emotions

Registration

The conference itself is free of charge to all who wish to attend.

Lodging: The conference hotel is the Hilton in downtown Worcester. A block of rooms have been reserved for conference participants until April 6. You should make your hotel reservations by calling 508-753-5700. Mention that that you participate in the conference “Understanding Other Minds” at Holy Cross in order to get the preferred rate of $99 per night (for double or single) plus tax.