[Philosophy of Social Cognition] Third Meeting

[Martyna Meyer]

Dear all,

I hope you had a lovely week. Thank you very much for the second meeting, I learned so much from you! 
I am excited to see you again on Tuesday. 

In this email, I will share: 
(1) The text for our next meeting;
(2) A few links/references on the topic discussed last week;
(3) The syllabus and dates for our next few sessions.


— — — — —
1. Next Meeting

The next meeting will happen on Tuesday, March 21, 2023 at NIG (classroom 3B). 
3B is on the third floor (here is the plan of the building <https://ethik.univie.ac.at/fileadmin/user_upload/i_philosophie_ethik/General_folder/NIG_building_plan.pdf>).
The meeting time is 18:30-20:00 (CET).

You can definitely join online:

Join Zoom Meeting https://univienna.zoom.us/j/65514918078?pwd=cVZTd2Ivb09uSUFVNTZORWFIOTA4UT09
Meeting ID: 655 1491 8078
Passcode: 761834

We will continue the discussion on Theory of Mind. I chose a text which I think will work well as an overview of the constructivism vs nativism debate:

Mirski, R., & Gut, A. (2020). Action-based versus cognitivist perspectives on socio-cognitive development: 
Culture, language and social experience within the two paradigms. Synthese, 197(12), 5511–5537. 
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-018-01976-y
(You can access the text clicking on the link above)
— — — — —


— — — — —
2. A note on our discussion last week
(Many, many thanks to Jonas who reliably send me a lovely & very informative email on Wednesday)

It’s on the idea that was mentioned by Felipe: "animals re-combining words”. 
If you’re interested in this topic, the Wiki article on Alex the Parrot <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_(parrot)> might be a read for you :)

What Jonas was referring to (from Wiki): 
He called an apple a "banerry" (pronounced as rhyming with some pronunciations of "canary"), 
which a linguist friend of Pepperberg's thought to be a combination of "banana" and "cherry”, 
two fruits he was more familiar with.
(Alex’s trainer wrote a publication about it <https://www.wellbeingintlstudiesrepository.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1120&context=acwp_asie>*)

* Comment from Jonas: 
There's a lot of bias since it was Alex's personal trainer and not someone “objective";
Also, if it's been only claimed in one bird, it’s not enough evidence to draw any conclusions as to general mental capacities of non-humans.
There are rather critical comments on related capacities in apes.
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3. Next sessions

28.03.2023
This is going to be our last meeting before Easter. We will complete the discussion on ToM by talking about Folk Psychology (and how it maps onto our cognitive makeup).

Dewhurst, J. (2021). Folk Psychological and Neurocognitive Ontologies (pp. 311–334). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-54092-0_14
Access: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/347452542_Folk_Psychological_and_Neurocognitive_Ontologies


18.04.2023
After Easter we will start with the Simulation Theory. For a change, we will read a less recent text; it’s more of a handbook introduction to what Simulation Theory is and what problems it may pose.

Gallese, V., & Goldman, A. (1998). Mirror neurons and the simulation theory of mind-reading. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 2(12), 493–501. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1364-6613(98)01262-5
Access: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364661398012625


25.04.2023
After the introduction, we will move to a more critical perspective on Simulation Theory:

Gallagher, S. (2007). Simulation trouble. Social Neuroscience, 2(3–4), 353–365. https://doi.org/10.1080/17470910601183549
You can download a pdf here: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/51408354_Simulation_Trouble

With the beginning of May, we will enter the realm of Interaction Theories :)
— — — — —


In case of any problems or concerns (or if you just want to share anything at all): martyna.meyer at univie.ac.at <mailto:martyna.meyer at univie.ac.at> or socialcognition.philosophy at univie.ac.at <mailto:socialcognition.philosophy at univie.ac.at>.

Have a great weekend & see you soon!


Best,
Martyna
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