Two day International Conference 2nd-3rd May, Valparaíso, Chile (Universidad de Valparaíso). funded by the Renewing Philosophical Psychopathology Project, Wellcome Trust.
International Conference
Predictive Self-Modeling and the Phenomenology of Psychosis
2nd-3rd May
Valparaíso, Chile (Universidad de Valparaíso)
Part of the project ‘Back to the Self: On how the study of Delusions offers opportunities for mutual enlightenment between phenomenological psychopathology and hierarchical self-modeling’, funded by the Renewing Philosophical Psychopathology Project, Wellcome Trust.
Call for Papers
The hypothesis that the brain is an error minimizing machine has been gaining momentum within neuropsychiatry and cognitive science. This approach to brain function is known as ‘predictive processing’ (PP). PP promises to unify our understanding of the human mind at its different timescales by way of a handful of architectural principles. Consequently, PP has motivated the development of multiple interdisciplinary research initiatives, including compelling approaches to mental illness. Over the last years, PP approaches have been developed for the understanding of diagnostic conditions such as schizophrenia, anorexia, depression, among many others. In the case of schizophrenia, PP models have focused on how hallucinations and delusions arise from the dynamics of precision estimation during hierarchical Bayesian inference. However, conditions such as schizophrenia seem to go beyond mere alterations in the dynamics of precision estimation; schizophrenia, as the phenomenological tradition emphasizes, involves a complete transformation in the experience of the self and its relationship with the world and others. Thus, some authors have criticized PP-based models for being reductionist and for neglecting fundamental phenomenological elements of psychopathology, such as the role played by the self.
‘Predictive Self-Modeling and the Phenomenology of Psychosis’ is a 2-days hybrid conference that focuses on the exploration of how PP models that stress the enacted, embedded, extended, and embodied (4E) nature of error-minimizing agents can be informed by the insights of the phenomenological tradition in psychopathology. Conversely, the conference aims to explore how 4E approaches to PP can enrich phenomenological approaches to psychosis in general, and schizophrenia more specifically.
The conference will be held at the vibrant city of Valparaíso (Universidad de Valparaíso, Chile), during 2-3 May 2024 in a hybrid format. Although the organisers will prioritize in-person presentations. Abstracts should be sent to the email address [email protected] and should not exceed 500 words, with 3 to 5 keywords. They should be submitted in English and must be accompanied by a short biographical note.
Deadline for abstract submission: 15 March.
Confirmed Keynotes:
- Shaun Gallaguer (University of Memphis)
- Philip Gerrans (University of Adelaide)
Topics may include, but are not limited to:
- Phenomenology of psychosis
- The role of the self within the PP architecture
- Self and psychosis
- Conceptual and explanatory links between the phenomenology of psychosis and neuropsychiatric approaches to psychopathology
- Self-modeling and psychosis: clinical implications
- The narrative and minimal self within hierarchical architectures
- The nature of the descriptive and pathogenic role of the self in psychopathology
- Predictive processing and clinical approaches to psychosis
For further information please contact José M. Araya ([email protected])