The Study of the Human Self is a two-day, interdisciplinary conference dedicated to answering two questions:
- What kind of agent are we? If we presently do not know how to think of our capacities as agents, what, in light of the very latest scientific findings, is our best educated guess? What are we actually like as deliberators, choosers, and actors?
- What are the methods of inquiry most likely to help us discover the truth about our capacities as agents? Since some of our capacities as agents generate illusions of various sorts, and since inquiry is one way we exercise our capacities as agents, how can we study ourselves without succumbing to the illusions to which we are prone?
There will be no formal presentations of papers. Panelists will be allotted 20 minutes for Power Point synopses of essays submitted several weeks prior to the conference. Panelists and registered participants will be expected to read these essays in advance of the conference. Conference sessions will consist mainly of discussion among panelists and between panelists and participants. Persons interested in attending the conference are encouraged to submit the registration form and fee as soon as possible (click on ”brochure” below for details and registration form) since considerations of space limit the number of registered participants we can accept. Be sure to include your email address on the registration form, so we can send you online access to the conference papers. This conference is the second in the William and Mary Biennial Colloquium in Philosophy series. It will be held September 25th-26th 2008 at the Williamsburg Hospitality House, close to Colonial Williamsburg and adjacent to the College of William and Mary.
