Venue:
Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria, & online
Organiser:
Dr. Anne Sophie Meincke (University of Vienna & Young
Academy of the Austrian Academy of Sciences)
Description:
In everyday life, we naturally assume that it is up to us how we
act, and that we are therefore responsible for our actions. However,
free will in this strong, 'libertarian' sense - involving a choice
between alternatives - is increasingly being questioned by
philosophers and scientists. While traditional concerns were
predicated on the deterministic laws of classical physics, today
sceptics also cite biology and neuroscience. We are told that our
genes or our brains, not we, decide what we want and how we act.
This conference gathers leading experts in philosophy, biology and
neuroscience who argue the opposite. Cutting-edge research into the
biological and neural basis of human and animal agency challenges
deterministic assumptions, adding to doubts from quantum physics and
pointing to non-reductionist views of agency and action causation.
At the same time, recent advances in the philosophy of biology and
metaphysics offer new conceptual resources for understanding agency
and free will under indeterminism. The conference explores the
resulting prospects for a scientifically grounded, ontologically
robust concept of 'libertarian' free will, breaking new ground in
interdisciplinary research on free will.
Invited Speakers:
Björn Brembs (University of Regensburg), John Dupré (University of
Exeter), Geert Keil (Humboldt University of Berlin), Christian List
(LMU Munich), Anne Sophie Meincke (University of Vienna), Alfred R.
Mele (Florida State University), Kevin Mitchell (with Henry Potter;
both Trinity College Dublin), Stephen Mumford (Durham University),
Helen Steward (University of Leeds), Peter U. Tse (Dartmouth
College).
Concluding Reflections:
Johannes Jaeger (University of Vienna), Josef Quitterer (University
of Innsbruck)
For more details (including the conference programme) please visit
https://philevents.org/event/show/135653
or
https://www.oeaw.ac.at/detail/veranstaltung/der-freie-wille-im-fokus-von-philosophie-biologie-und-neurowissenschaft
To attend in person, please register free of charge by 2nd June 2025
via
https://www.oeaw.ac.at/veranstaltungen/anmeldung/free-will-new-perspectives-from-philosophy-biology-and-neuroscience
Or follow the event via live stream:
https://www.oeaw.ac.at/veranstaltungen/live
This conference is associated with the Elise Richter-research
project "Bio-Agency and Natural Freedom", led by Dr. Anne Sophie
Meincke and funded by the Austrian Science Fund (grant DOI
10.55776/V714). It will be preceded by a Young Academy Distinguished
Lecture by Alfred R. Mele (Florida State University) and Anne Sophie
Meincke (University of Vienna & Young Academy of the Austrian
Academy of Sciences) on the question "Can Biology Help Us Defend
Free Will?" on 10th June 2025 at the Austrian Academy of Sciences,
see
