Sense and Space
17th-19th February 2016
Senate House, University of London
Invited speakers:
Barry Smith (Institute of Philosophy, University of London) (keynote)
Charles Spence (Psychology, Oxford)
Denis Mareschal (Psychology, UCL)
Hong Yu Wong (Philosophy of Neuroscience, Tübingen)
Jannath Ali (Psychology, Birkbeck)
Michael Martin (Philosophy, UCL)
Patrick Haggard (Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, UCL)
Robert Kentridge (Psychology, Durham)
Zhaoping Li (Computer Science, UCL)
Spatial perception is ubiquitous in both human and animal lives. It is relatively plain that vision, audition and touch are spatial senses, but the cases of olfaction and gustation are less clear. But even in those clear cases, it is arguable that different senses register space and spatial properties in different ways. For example, historically it has been argued that vision is intrinsically two-dimensional and has to gain their three-dimensionality from touch (Berkeley 1709); an even more extremely view has it that touch as such lacks three-dimensionality (Hume 1739, Diderot 1749). Nowadays researchers are more equipped to investigate these as well as other related questions empirically, but so far many of those questions remain wide open. This conference seeks to gain a deeper understanding of spatial perception in humans and other animals.
We are grateful for the support of the Institute of Philosophy, School of Advanced Study, University of London, University College London, the Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, the Analysis Trust, the Aristotelian Society, and the Mind Association.
