A Universalist Philosophy of Mind
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Southampton
Department Name: Sch of Humanities
Abstract
Philosophers traditionally distinguish between particulars (entities which can be counted), and universals (entities which are the common natures in which these particulars partake) - contrast, e.g., the table with the property of being gray. The core assumption of philosophy of mind in the analytic tradition is a conception of mental states (e.g. beliefs, emotions) as mental particulars. This assumption has never been argued for. The ambition of UNIPHIMIND is to provide the first full defense of the universalist thesis, according to which mental states are universals or instantiations thereof. It will do so by drawing the full implications of the universalist thesis for philosophy of mind and by tracing the history of the adoption of the particularist assumption, thereby breaking new grounds. The overarching goal of UNIPHIMIND is to show that these implications are deep and far-ranging.
People |
ORCID iD |
| Conor McHugh (Principal Investigator) | |
| Brice Bantegnie (Fellow) |
| Description | The Fellow's research has contributed to an improved understanding of dispositionalism as a theory of mental states, of arguments for the theory and of its connections to other issues in philosophy of mind (e.g. the 'knowledge argument'). The research has also contributed to the historical and philosophical understanding of the work of Gilbert Ryle, a key figure in early 20th century philosophy of mind whose work anticipates contemporary dispositionalism. |
| Exploitation Route | Future research on dispositionalism and on Ryle will respond to and build on these outcomes. |
| Sectors | Other |
| Description | Conference Grant |
| Amount | £900 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Mind Association |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 04/2025 |
| End | 05/2025 |
| Description | same as the project |
| Organisation | University of California, Riverside |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Feedback on colleagues' work (Schwitzgebel, Reck, Newton) and on grad students' work. Guest lecturing. Organizing of a workshop and of a session at a conference. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Feedback on my work (Professors Schwitzgebel, Reck, Newton) and my lecturing. Soft-skills raining (UCR library.) Administrative support. |
| Impact | Cf. Output sec. of the project itself. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | (Hybrid) Talk at Pitt. Title: "Where the Philosophy of Cognitive Science Went Wrong" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Feedback on my work. Subsequent scholarly exchanges with colleague from Pitt. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeS9yMp803o&list=PLj4TQJQsJI1YwXQpzGIF35B7o9AqBIi3t&index=2 |
| Description | A talk at Georgia State University. Title: "Against the Current Paradigm in the Philosophy of Mind. That Mental States Are Not Things Functionally Individuated" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Feedback on my work. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | A talk at UC Riverside. Title: "Naturalism and Subjectivity. A Dispositionalist Take on Some Recalcitrant Problems" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presentation of my work. Subsequent scholarly exchanges with colleague from UCR. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | A talk in the Colloquium at UC Riverside, Title: Believing, Judging and Inferring. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Most of the Department of UC Riverside (and some members of other departments at UCR) as well as some external audience members listed to my talk and reported having been led to reflect anew on what judgments and inferrences are. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | A talk in the Seminar of the Research Group "Philosophies and Rationality" University Clermont Auvergne France, Title: On the Normative Character of the Mental |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A talk on the normativity of the mental. Colleagues from Clermont reported having been led to rethink what they thought about the topic/to have been helpfully introduced to the topic. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| Description | A talk or presentation - Guest lecturing. Course: Knowledge and Reality (Course leader: Conor McHugh) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Topics: beliefs and degrees thereof, pragmatic encroachment 3 Sessions. Improvement in their understanding of the topics reported by some students. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Guest lecturing. Course: General Philosophy 2. Philosophy of Mind. University Clermont Auvergne France (course leader: Henri Galinon) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | 3 Sessions (in French). Introduction to the philosophy of mind. Increased interest in the subject reported by some students. Improvement in their understanding of the topics reported by some students. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| Description | Guest lecturing. Course: Introduction to the Philosophy of Mind (Course leader: Eric Schwitzgebel) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
| Results and Impact | 3 Sessions. Partial grading. Increased interest in the subject reported by some students. Improvement in their understanding of the topics reported by some students. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Organizing of a workshop on Ordinary Language Philosophy and the Philosophy of Mind |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Workshop on Ordinary Language Philosophy and the Philosophy of Mind Location: UC Riverside Speakers: Michael Kremer (Chicago), Eric Reck (UCR) and myself |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Organizing of an Affiliated Group Session on Gilbert Ryle (Society for the Study of the History of Analytic Philosophy) at the 2024 Pacific Division Meeting of the APA (speaker : Casey Doyle, Devin Sanchez-Curry and Brice Bantegnie) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | 10/20 people attended the session on Gilbert Ryle I organized (under the aegis of the Society for the Study of the History of Analytic Philosophy) at the 2024 Pacific Division Meeting of the APA. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Talk at Yale University. TItle: "Where the Philosophy of Cognitive Science Went Wrong" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Feedback on my work. Subsequent scholarly exchanges with colleague from Yale. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Talk at the University of Miami. Title: "How to Love Direct Realism after you Dumped It." |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Feedback on my work. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Talk in the Affiliated Group Session on Gilbert Ryle (Society for the Study of the History of Analytic Philosophy) at the 2024 Pacific Division Meeting of the APA, Title: The Concept of Mind. An Update |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | 10/20 Attended my talk on Gilbert Ryle's Concept of Mind and several reported having changed their mind on the book. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Talk in the ELLMM City Seminar, Department of Philosophy, Yale University, Title: Let's Get Personal! How to not Theorize about Thoughts |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | 10/20 people attended my talk and some reported having changed their mind on what thoughts are. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Talk in the Language and Mind Seminar, University of Saint Andrews, Title: It's Personal and It's Fine |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Students attended my talk and reported being prompt to rethink the distinction between the personal and the subpersonal in philosophy of mind and action. I was subsequently invited to give a talk in Glasgow (Cf. other record) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Talk in the PPIG Seminar, University of Edinburgh, Title: It's Personal and It's Fine |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Most of the Department attended my talk and reported being prompted to rethinking the distinction between the personal and the subpersonal in the philosophy of mind and action. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Talk in the Seminar: "Philosophy in Debates: An American History of Analytic Philosophy", Title: Malcolm vs. Armstrong on the Causality of the Mental, Sorbonne University |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | A group of students and some faculty members both in France and in Canada (online) attended my talk and reported having learned a lot about this debate and having been led to rethinking the question of the causality of the mental. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |