Inferences & Capacities
We are pleased to announce our monthly online talk series on "Inferences & Capacities."
Our first speaker is:
Angelica Kaufmann (University of Milan)
"Mind Blanking as Mental Imagery."
April 27: 11am (Buenos Aires), 10am (New York), 4pm (Berlin).
Abstract: Mind blanking is often described as a mental state characterized as if there is “nothing in mind.” This label does not pin down exactly its nature. While in some cases there may be a genuine absence of conscious content, in this talk, I will argue that, at least in some instances, a content may be experienced, while remaining too indeterminate or too weakly structured to support conceptual or linguistic uptake. This paper focuses on the second kind of cases. I contend that some forms of mind blanking may be usefully modelled through the framework of mental imagery. Drawing on work on perceptual absence, uniform experience, and white dreams, I suggest that an episode can feel empty, or be reported as empty, even when experience has not disappeared altogether. This approach helps explain the poor reportability of mind blanking, its possible heterogeneity, and its difference from both mind wandering and full interruptions of consciousness.
How to participate: Please, send an email to Alfredo Vernazzani at:
alfredo-vernazzani@protonmail.com
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About Inferences & Capacities:
The series brings together work on inferential capacities, rationality, normativity, and cognition — across both human and non-human animals — with the aim of fostering discussion on the nature and limits of the cognitive sphere.
2026 line-up:
April 27: Angelica Kaufmann (University of Milan): "Mind Blanking as Mental Imagery."
May 18: Federico Burdman (Universidad Alberto Hurtado) "Constrained choices: addiction, attention, and reasons-responsiveness."
June 22: Susanna Schellenberg (Rutgers): TBA
July 20: Cameron Buckner (University of Florida): "Chains-of-Thought, Inner Speech, and Artificial Epistemic Agency."
September 7: Ulf Hlobil (Concordia University): TBA
October 19: Eva Schmidt (TU Dortmund): TBA
November 16: Hans-Johann Glock (University of Zürich): "Is ascribing inferences to brains or non-human animals a fallacy?"
December 14: TBA
Each talk lasts c. 40 minutes followed by 40 minutes open Q&A.
The series is co-organized by:
Mariela Aguilera (University of Córdoba)
Matías Osta-Vélez (Universidad de la República)
Alfredo Vernazzani (TU Dortmund; Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg).
Visit our website:
https://sitio.ffyh.unc.edu.ar/cartografias-cognitivas/online-series-inferences-capacities/