Symposium ``Images, reason and reasoning''

Co-organized by the Ecole Normale Supérieure of Paris
and Keio University of Tokyo

Date, location:

 March 15th (Monday), Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris.

This workshop intends to set a forum for people in different fields to discuss cognitive aspects of reasoning, with the focus on the relation between the visual cognition and the inference activities. Some geometrical reasoning in mathematics is considered a typical example of high-level non-linguistic reasoning, although it has close interactions with linguistic or logical (in the traditional sense) reasoning. Philosophical investigations into such a high-level reasoning (eg. Husserl's phenomenological study of the Origin of Geometry) seem important. Reasoning or decision-making of the behaviors of small children and animals also may be counted as examples of non-linguistic reasoning in a wider sense where the visual and other cognitions are basic for the reasoning or decision-making. The linguistic or symbolic reasoning also require cognitive foundations. We plan set a forum among mathematicians, cognitive scientists, philosophers, logicians, animal behavioral psychologists, neuro-scientists, computer scientists and other scientists to discuss the cognitions and reasoning, with a special attention on the visual cognition-based inferences, including high-level (such as mathematical) aspects, the low-level (such as animal behaviors) aspects and the computational aspect.

Organization:

 the meeting is jointly planned by the seminar ``Philosophie et Mathématiques'' de l'Ecole Normale Supérieure de Paris, the CENECC, Centre d'Etudes des Systèmes Complexes et de la Cognition (Ecole Normale Supérieure de Paris) and the CIRM, Center for Integrated Research on the Mind (Keio University, Tokyo).

Program:

 45 minutes talk followed by 15 minutes of a responding comment and discussion.

9h15 Introduction to the meeting, Giuseppe Longo and Mitsu Okada.

9h30 am Ludwig Huber, Associate Professor, Institute of Zoology, University of Vienna: ``Pictorial and relational categories in animals''. Discussion: Shigeru Watanabe (Psychology, Keio University).

10h30 Dominique Lestel, Maitre de Conférences, Department of Cognitive Studies, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Paris: `` Topological apes, geometrical birds and other etho-mathematical puzzles''. Discussion: Bernard Teissier (CNRS and Institute of Mathematics,Paris-VII).

11h30 Barbara Tversky, Professor, Department of Psychology, Standford University: ``Cognitive principles of graphic displays''. Discussion: Mitsuhiro Okada and Pierre Grialou (Philosophy and Logic, Keio University).

12h30-2h00 pm: lunch break.

2h00 pm Bernard Teissier, Professor, Jussieu Institute of Mathematics, Paris-VII University: ``Examples of pictural reasonings in algebra and analysis''. Discussion: Giuseppe Longo (Computer Science, ENS).

3h00 Dieter Lohmar, Professor of Philosophy, Husserl Archives, University of Cologne: ``The function of weak phantasma in human and animal visual perception''. Discussion: Jocelyn Benoist (CNRS and Philosophy, ENS).

4h00-5h30 pm Continuation of the debate with the speakers and respondants, followed by a discussion session for interdisciplinary collaborative research.

Organizers:

  Mitsuhiro Okada, mitsu at abelard.flet.keio.ac.jp and Giuseppe Longo, longo at di.ens.fr

Coordinator:

 Pierre Grialou, grialou at abelard.flet.keio.ac.jp