Other Minds

With the terms "tacit knowledge" and "Theory of Mind", a fundamental philosophical problem has entered the so-called cognitive neurosciences:

The problem of "other minds". To know what the person opposite us thinks, feels, wants and intends, is of vital importance in many respects. But this knowledge of the mental states of others is hidden and has to be inferred indirectly.

The subject matter of "other minds" has lead to a current boom of research projects, which have hailed the era of the "social brain". As a result, a lot of hope rests on the relatively new imaging and neurophysiological methods to be able to examine and answer a few questions in new ways. In this, perspectives of other disciplines are blocked out when questions are addressed with behavioral, physiological and imaging methods.

The members of the Research Group exchange information on concepts, methods and perspectives of the different disciplines. In doing so, the debates and projects of the RG Other Minds had three focal points:

Anthology "Other Minds"

The proceedings of the Magdeburg workshop were published as an anthology in 2008, with contributions from philosophy, medicine, psychology, biology, sociology and literary studies.

participating Alumnae / Alumni