Cornell Workshop on Mind and Value III - The Self in the Space of Reasons, September 2024

The Japanese Garden, Johnson Museum
The Japanese Garden, Johnson Museum Cornell University Photography

Workshop Overview

The Self in the Space of Reasons

The theme for this year’s workshop is the relationship between selves as conscious subjects and the normative. One set of questions concerns the nature of conscious subjects, what they are, whether and how they matter, and how their existence bears on other things that matter. Another set of questions concerns how conscious subjects have access to reasons for action and belief, and how those reasons shape the experience of being a self. Talks and discussion based on these and other topics to be held at Cornell University on September 6-8, 2024 in Myron Taylor Hall L28.

Participating scholars include: 

  • Emad Atiq (Cornell University)
  • Earl Conee (University of Rochester)
  • Heather Demarest (University of Colorado, Boulder)
  • Matt Duncan (Rhode Island College)
  • Mark Johnston (Princeton University)
  • Rachana Kamtekar (Cornell University)
  • Ned Markosian (University of Massachusetts Amherst)
  • Julia Markovits (Cornell University)
  • Andrei Marmor (Cornell University)
  • Trenton Merricks (University of Virginia)
  • Cole Mitchell (Cornell University)
  • Shaun Nichols (Cornell University)
  • David Shoemaker (Cornell University)
  • Erica Shumener (Syracuse University)
  • David Sobel (Syracuse University)
  • Jack Spencer (MIT)
  • Sharon Street (New York University)
  • Amie Thomasson (Dartmouth University)

Program

Friday, September 6th:

Location: Myron Taylor Hall L28

10:00am - 11:30am - Heather Demarest (U. of Colorado, Boulder), with comments by Erica Shumener (Syracuse)
Persisting in Spacetime
11:40am - 1:10pm - Ned Markosian (UMass), with comments by Shaun Nichols (Cornell)

Causation, Agent Causation, and Free Will

1:20pm - 2:20 - Lunch Provided

2:30pm - 4:00pm - Sharon Street (NYU), with comments by David Sobel (Syracuse)

On Recognizing Oneself in Others.

Optional Hike

Dinner on your own

Saturday, September 7th:

Location: Myron Taylor Hall L28

10:00am - 11:30am - Trenton Merricks (Virginia), with comments by Earl Conee (Rochester)

Composition and Moral Status

11:40am - 1:10pm - Amie Thomasson (Dartmouth), with comments by Cole Mitchell (Cornell)

Metaethics and the Functions of Moral Language

1:20pm - 2:20 - Lunch Provided

2:30pm - 4:00pm - Mark Johnston (Princeton), with comments by Dave Shoemaker (Cornell)

“Ontological Reduction, Grounding, Superinternality, Ontological Trash, Emergence and the Embodiment of Mind

Cocktail Hour and Dinner

Sunday, September 8th:

Location: Myron Taylor Hall L28

10:00am - 11:30am - Julia Markovits (Cornell), with comments by Rachana Kamtekar (Cornell)

Praise and Blame in the Absence of Moral Knowledge

11:40am - 1:10pm - Jack Spencer (MIT), with comments by Matt Duncan (Rhode Island)

Knowledge and Normal Luminosity

1:20pm - 2:20 - Lunch Provided

 

Registration

The 3 day workshop will be conducted in-person on September 6 - 8 on the Cornell University campus in Ithaca, NY. Please use the link provided below to fill in the registration form. 

Click HERE to Register for the Cornell Workshop on Mind and Value III.

Registered attendees should book their accommodations as soon as possible. September is a busy month in the Ithaca area and rooms will book up quickly.

In case you have already registered and need to cancel your registration, please let us know at: cwmindandvalue@gmail.com

Travel and Accommodations

Travel

Ithaca is served by the local Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport, four miles from Cornell campus, and Syracuse Hancock International Airport in Syracuse, New York, which is about an hour away from Ithaca. American Airlines (from Philadelphia), Delta (from Detroit and JFK), and United (from DC-Dulles) all serve Ithaca Airport, with a wider set of options flying into Syracuse.

Ithaca is about 250 miles from New York City as well as Newark, NJ. If you are in the New York city area, you might consider taking one of the many busses from New York City to Ithaca downtown, which is about a 4 hour trip. Cornell’s Campus-to-Campus Express (1.607.254.8747) picks up in midtown and provides comfortable seating, internet, power outlets, reading lights, complimentary beverages, and snacks. Advance reservations are needed, however.

Accommodation

We strongly advise you to book hotels or AirBnBs as soon as possible, given that rooms in Ithaca are in high demand during late summer. Hotels will fill up fast. AirBnB is always an option as well. If you have difficulty finding accommodation, please let us know and we will do our best to assist.

Local hotels include:

Hilton Garden Inn
Hilton Canopy 
Hotel Ithaca
Marriott
William Henry Miller Inn

Workshop Events and Area Information

The Workshop will include several social events, including a cocktail hour, a closing dinner and a local hike. These events are all optional. Please check back for further details.

Ithaca has good restaurants, excellent bars and cafes, as well as stunning natural beauty. Below, we list some local options for dining and travel that we recommend.

Restaurants

Restaurants with good vegetarian / vegan options marked with a star

Cafés

Bars

Goldwin Smith Sidewalk

Trails, Waterfalls, Vineyards

Ithaca boasts over 150 waterfalls within a 10 mile radius and stunning gorges carved out by glaciers during the last ice age. There are several short and doable hikes right on campus, with breathtaking views, including the Cascadilla Gorge Trail (connects downtown to the Law School) and the trail from Triphammer falls (near the art museum) to Beebe Lake.

Fantastic hikes within driving distance include the trails at Robert Treman State ParkButtermilk Falls State Park, and Taughannock Falls State Park.

For a map of local vineyards, see here

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