John Krakauer
C. Malone Professor of Neurology, Neuroscience, & Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Johns Hopkins University

What does Neuroscience want to know?

What does it mean to ask “How does the brain work?” or “What is the neural basis for cognition?” The argument I will make is that mind answers and brain answers are complementary and non-collapsible.

Location: 402 Claudia Cohen Hall

MIRA Group is an integrated research and training group that incorporates aspects of a typical philosophy dissertation workshop group with those of a scientific lab group. Our focus is on embodied, non-reductive approaches to the study of the mind, with special interest in artificial intelligence. Topics of interest range across issues in philosophy of mind and language, cognitive science, and epistemology. We also study epistemic and normative issues concerning these topics, especially as they relate to diversity, wellness, and social justice.

MIRA provides weekly training, mentorship, and peer support for advanced undergraduates and graduate students working on these topics. Together, we collaborate on projects, workshop individual members’ papers, and acquire the philosophical and interdisciplinary skills that are important to our work. All students are encouraged to pursue their own ideas and projects, even when they explicitly disagree with or criticize the PI’s work. MIRA’s inherent breadth helps students develop competence in areas outside of their thesis topics.

MIRA additionally has both a practical focus on diversity, wellness, and social justice. We work to create a holistically supportive academic environment, and to develop tools and resources for other academic groups to support all students and faculty.