Grades of Mind: Agency, Memory, Sentience

“In attempting to understand the elements out of which mental phenomena are compounded, it is of the greatest importance to remember that from the protozoa to man there is nowhere a very wide gap either in structure or in behaviour. From this fact it is a highly probable inference that there is also nowhere a very wide mental gap.” – Bertrand Russell, The Analysis of Mind, 1922.

Over a century later, are we finally able to understand the evolution of the mind without positing any “wide mental gaps”? This workshop will consider some of the areas where “wide gaps” have been posited – agency, memory, sentience – and will consider whether the latest evidence supports or undermines Russell’s thesis.

Venue: LAK 2.06, Lakatos Building, LSE Campus – and online. Join via Zoom here.

No pre-registration needed, all are welcome to attend the talks.

PROGRAMME (all times BST):

11:00am: Ali Boyle (LSE Philosophy)

11:50am: Nick Shea (University of London)

12:40-1:40pm: Lunch break – attendees should make own arrangements

1:40-2:30pm: Jeff Sebo (New York University)

2:30-3:20pm: Matt Sims (University of Cambridge) and Marta Halina (University of Cambridge)

3:20-4:10pm: Peter Godfrey-Smith (University of Sydney)