Essentialism in the Human Mind

According to the Psychological Essentialism hypothesis, humans view some categories as having an underlying essence that explains members' shared traits and behaviors. This idea has been central to research in philosophy and psychology, shedding light on our conceptual developmental trajectory, links to social hierarchies, and impacts on phenomena like stereotyping. Psychologists have explored essentialism's contextual influences and cognitive consequences, while philosophers have applied these findings across fields such as philosophy of mind, epistemology, language, and social philosophy. Despite this progress, limited interdisciplinary interaction hinders a full understanding of essentialism’s complexities.

This conference aims to bridge the gap by fostering collaboration between scholars from philosophy and psychology. Our goal is to create a lasting consortium for interdisciplinary research on essentialism. This two-day event will feature symposium-style talks, key discussions on essentialism, vision-planning sessions for future collaborations, and social events to build connections. 

(Key to illustration: DALLE's vision of the workshop)

Confirmed Speakers

Joshua Knobe (Yale)
Tara Mandalaywala (Boston U)
Eleonore Neufeld (UMass Amherst)
Rebecca Peretz-Lange (Vassar)
Sandeep Prasada (Hunter College, CUNY)
Marjorie Rhodes (NYU)