You are here About

About

This project provides the only comprehensive, interdisciplinary effort to identify, track, and organize the various uses of the concept of mental representation, helping clarify theoretical debates and scientific work – past, present, and future.

Past

This will be the opposite of a ‘potted’ history of representation. Instead, this section will ask when, where, and why the term and concept of (mental) representation came into use. Are there analogues in other languages, and are their geneses analogous/contemporaneous?

Present

At some point, the use of ‘representation’ will be employed in such specialist ways that the approach of the intellectual historian should be augmented by experts in different fields, who would articulate the ways in which the term/concept are used now and in recent history. Identifying current areas of confusion surrounding representation will arise from such analyses.

Future

Examining and articulating the historical development of ‘representation’ into the present allows us to note the contingency of its past, and poises us to take control of our use of the concept in future. The ‘Present’ section of the project would implicitly point to the need for clarity, as it would reflect the piecemeal and fragmented state of discourse. The ‘Future’ section would gather these threads, organize them, and offer explication and guidance.

This, then, is the (theory-neutral) prescriptive part of the project. Working from past and present confusions, what categories and subcategories of ‘representation’ exist? When is it necessary that the term be unpacked? How do various ‘isms’ that have currency now help or obfuscate communication? The result should be an interdisciplinary taxonomy to guide discourse, including in future-impacting fields such as AI or computational neuroscience.

Working Towards a Taxonomy: Video Presentation

Publications

See our recent publication featured in The Tranmsitter.

Expected Future Outputs

Interdisciplinary monograph or special issue of journal (publisher TBD), multiple-author ‘overview’ piece(s), curated bibliography (potentially data-backed website). Multiple workshops and conferences.