Conference "Unity and Self"

November 29 – 30, 2007 in Copenhagen

Conference

Does the self exist? One classical argument in favor of the reality of the self is that we need a self in order to account for the unity of the stream of consciousness and the world of experience. The aim of the conference will be to appraise the possible strengths or weaknesses of this argument. Is there really unity to be found in the first place, and if so, is it really conditioned by the self?

Location: University of Copenhagen, Njalsgade 120, Copenhagen S / Building 23, ground floor, Auditorium 50 (room number 23-0-50). See campus area here: Map
Participation is free, but prior registration is required: Please register before Monday, November 19, by sending an email to cfs@hum.ku.dk
Organized by Dan Zahavi.

Programme

Thursday, November 29

09:00-09:15 Welcome and Introduction
09:15-10:30 Evan Thompson (University of Toronto): "Brain in a vat or body in a world: On the biological requirements of self"
10:30-11:45 Philippe Rochat (Emory University): "Unity and self at birth"
11:45-13:00 Lunch break
13:00-14:15 Dan Zahavi (University of Copenhagen): "Unity of Consciousness and the Problem of the Self"
14:15-14:45 Coffee break
14:45-16:00 Tim Bayne (Oxford University): "Consciousness, the self, and the split-brain syndrome"

Friday, November 30

Organized by Dan Zahavi .

Location: University of Copenhagen, Njalsgade 120, Copenhagen S / Building 23, ground floor, Auditorium 50 (room number 23-0-50). See campus area here: Map

Prior registration required: Please register before Monday, November 19, by sending an email to cfs@hum.ku.dk

Participation is free of charge.

09.30-10.45 Louis Sass (Rutgers University) "Gurwitsch, Schizophrenia and the Field of Consciousness"
10.45-12.00 Barry Dainton (University of Liverpool): "From Unity to Selfhood"
12.00-13:30 Lunch break
13.30-14.45 Galen Strawson (University of Reading & CUNY): "Subject as objects"
14.45-15.15 Coffee break