Call for abstracts: Ruhr-University Bochum & London School of Economics
joint workshop “Animal Minds: New Theories and New Observations”, 9th-10th
of February 2026 in Bochum, abstract deadline: 01.12.2025
https://philevents.org/event/show/140806
The interdisciplinary workshop “Animal Minds: New Theories and New
Observations”, jointly organized by Ruhr-University Bochum and The London
School of Economics, will take place on the 9th & 10th of February 2026 at
Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany.
The workshop will combine discussions of new theoretical and methodological
approaches with presentations of novel empirical findings about animal
minds.
The following speakers are confirmed: Colin Allen, Kristin Andrews,
Jonathan Birch, Thomas Bugnyar, Tomer Czaczkes, Rebecca Dreier, Leonard
Dung, Albert Newen, Simone Pika, Sanja Sreckovic, and Daria Zakharova.
We are inviting contributions from philosophy, psychology, ethology,
neuroscience, biology, and other relevant disciplines. Potential topics
include, but are not limited to, the following:
– What do we know about capacities such as reasoning, sentience, or
social understanding in other species?
– How do the cognitive and affective capacities of different species
compare and contrast with each other and with human capacities?
– What is the evolutionary origin of important human psychological
features?
– What are promising methodological frameworks and experimental
paradigms for investigating animal minds?
– Which theories about animal minds are supported by recent empirical
findings?
– What are the promises and limitations of multidimensional profile and
signature testing accounts in comparative psychology?
To be considered for a talk (30 minutes + 15 minutes discussion) or poster
presentation, please send an abstract of your proposed presentation of up
to 500 words (excluding references) to: hilfskraefte-newen@rub.de
The abstract should be anonymous, allowing blinded
review, and accompanied by a second Word or PDF file containing author
name(s), affiliation(s), and contact details. The deadline for abstract
submissions is the 1st of December 2025. We plan to notify everyone about
whether their abstract is accepted within two weeks after the deadline.
This joint event is organized by the following team:
Ruhr-University Bochum: Sanja Sreckovic, Leonard Dung, & Albert Newen
London School of Economics: Jonathan Birch
Please direct any questions to: leonard.dung@rub.de