Naturalizing the Mind - Royal Road or Blind Alley?
April 27-28, 2014
Tucson AZ, USA
The Society for Mind-Matter Research will organize a two-day symposium on Sunday/Monday,
April 27-28, 2014, on the "naturalization" program and its alternatives concerning questions
related to the mind-matter problem. The symposium will be held at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort
(Tucson AZ) and follows right after the 20th anniversary conference
"Toward a Science of Consciousness"
at Tucson. This conjunction gives participants of both meetings the opportunity to extend their stay and
make their trip to Tucson more rewarding.
The original impulse of "naturalizing the mind" was the attempt to explain mental activity by reduction
to brain activity. This simple idea created an enormous impact on research in science and philosophy with
many significant results and insights. But nevertheless, the key issue of the hard problem of consciousness
has remained unresolved, and this holds for the relationship between the mental and the physical in general as well.
Our keynote speakers will introduce and review the development of the classic naturalization program,
its successes and frustrations, and selected alternatives proposed more recently. Confirmed speakers
will be William Seager (University of Toronto), Steve Horst (Wesleyan University),
Michael Silberstein (Elizabethtown College), and Harald Atmanspacher (Collegium Helveticum Zurich).
As in last year's SMMR symposium at Freiburg, Germany
(see www.mindmatter.de/activities/panpsychism.html),
the goal of the symposium is a critical discussion of the overall topic together with all participants.
Therefore we ask participants to inject their ideas during the extended discussion periods rather than
in formal contributed talks. This format turned out very creative and fruitful and enhances direct
conversation, interaction, and future networking.
The symposium starts Sunday, April 27, at 9.15 with a brief welcome and ends Monday, April 28 in the late
afternoon. Details about the four keynote talks can be found here.
The regular fee for participation is $100 (students $60), for SMMR members it is reduced to $70
(students $40). The fee can be transferred to the SMMR account or paid cash (no checks please) at the
beginning of the symposium.
Please inform us as soon as possible (society@mindmatter.de) if you will attend the symposium,
so that we can plan all necessary details properly. We reserved a block of rooms for participants
of the symposium at Loews Ventana Canyon, above the Catalina foothills north of downtown Tucson.
Check www.loewshotels.com/en/Ventana-Canyon-Resort,
and you will be convinced that this a fantastic place for our meeting.
You can make your reservation at the Ventana Canyon via their electronic reservation system or
by phone (520) 299-2020, or fax (520) 299-6832. Don't forget to identify yourself as an attendee
of the SMMR event "Naturalizing the Mind" to make sure that you will enjoy the very special discount
rate of $139 per night and person.
Extra note for members: the general assembly 2014 of the Society for Mind-Matter Research will
be held at Loews Ventana Canyon on Saturday, April 26, at 5pm. The agenda for the assembly will be
distributed at least 20 days in advance. Please check the bylaws at
www.mindmatter.de/about/bylaws.html
