The Mechanistic Approach in Biology and Cognition 

This workshop aims to discuss recent developments and problems raised by the endorsement of mechanistic approaches in both organismal biology and cognitive sciences. Particularly relevant questions include the following: how are mechanistic approaches in molecular biology and cognitive sciences used? Are the approaches similar? How should we conceive of reductionism and emergence within the mechanistic approach? How should we make sense of hierarchical levels of organization in mechanistic explanations?  

The Programme

09:00-09:50 Maria Serban (Technische Universität Berlin) - Emergence, topdown causation and mechanisms
09:50-10:40 Sepehr Ehsani (University College London) - The challenges of purely mechanistic models in biology and the minimum need for a ‘mechanismplus-X’ framework
10:40 - 11:00 COFFEE BREAK
11:00-11:50 Gil Santos & Davide Vecchi (Universidade de Lisboa) - Mechanistic explanation and reduction in organismal biology 11:50-12:40 Joe Dewhurst (Munich Centre for Mathematical Philosophy) - Perspectival realism about mechanistic functions in biology and cognitive science

12:40-14:00 LUNCH

14:00-14:50 Marcin Miłkowski (Polish Academy of Sciences) - Making Explanations Systematic: Levels of Organization in Cognitive (Neuro)science
14:50-15:40 Jonny Lee (University of Sussex) - Structural representation, mechanisms and the two problems of content

15:40 - 16:00 COFFEE BREAK
16:00-16:50 Robert W. Clowes & Klaus Gärtner (Universidade Nova de Lisboa & Universidade de Lisboa) – Wide Mechanisms and Representations
16:50-17:40 Krystyna Bielecka (University of Warsaw) - Explaining Korsakoff Syndrome representationally

17:40-18:30 FINAL DISCUSSION

The workshop will be held at the University of Lisbon Campus in room 3.1.08. The first number indicates that the room is in the C3 building. The C3 building is in the Faculty of Sciences in the Campo Grande campus of the University of Lisbon:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Faculty+of+Sciences+of+the+University+of+Lisbon/@38.756233,-9.1562302,19z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0xd1932fc1d6c5e9b:0xe04b42461bdb164c!8m2!3d38.757145!4d-9.157641

Poster and Further Information here