27-28 May 2013, Concept Acquisition and the Role of Language, Durham, U.K.

Keynote Speakers: Susan Carey (Harvard), Maggie McGonigle (Edinburgh), Wolfram Hinzen (Durham)

Historically, issues concerning concept acquisition have focused around the nativism/empiricism debate. The central concern was to give an account of how new concepts are formed, and what influence the external world has on such processes (if any). More recently however, a trend in the literature has focused on the way that the nature of concepts might change throughout development. Questions emerge as to how the cognitive abilities in animals and human infant cognition relate to the later developing complex conceptual capacities of adults.

This workshop looks to assess the recent literature on these questions with particular focus on the role of language acquisition in the developmental process. We look to investigate these issues with an interdisciplinary approach, utilising research in linguistics, psychology, philosophy of mind, philosophy of science, comparative cognition, and other related fields.

This workshop takes place as part of a broader event entitled 'Philosophy and Psychology: Integrating Research Across Domains', encompassing two workshops. Please see separate call for participation for the workshop titled: Attention and Consciousness (13-14th June 2013).

To register to attend, please e-mail j.t.m.miller at durham.ac.uk, or j.h.taylor at durham.ac.uk. Places are limited, so please e-mail to reserve a place. There will be a workshop fee of £5 to cover provided refreshments (tea/coffee). We ask that attendees pay the fee on the day whilst registering (cheques payable to Durham University). For more information, see http://www.dur.ac.uk/philosophy/research_seminars_lectures_forthcoming/.