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Event sponsored by the Infinity Foundation,
NJ, USA
- MiCon
2002
Mind and Consciousness: Various Approaches
Infinity Foundation Sponsored Papers:
- Stephen Phillips
"The Mind-Body Problem in Three Indian Philosophies,
Sankara's Advaita Vedanta, Gangesa's Navya Nyaya, and Aurobindo's
Theistic Monism"
- Jonathan Shear, PhD
"Can Scientific Research on Meditation Ever Really Be
Significant?"
- Joseph Loizzo, MD, PhD
"Meditation and the Conscious Self-Regulation of Learning:
A Multidisciplinary Model for the Scientific Uses of Meditative
Self-Correction"
- Rajesh Kasturirangan
"Integrating Inner and Outer approaches to perception,
cognition and consciousness through Nonduality"
- C. Ram-Prasad, PhD
"Auto-reflexivity as the defining feature of consciousness:
a preliminary case for 'self-luminosity' from Advaita"
- Sangeetha Menon, PhD
"Binding Experiences for a First Person Approach: Looking
at Indian Ways of Thinking (Darsana) and Acting (Natya) in the
Context of Current Discussions on 'Consciousness'"
- Stuart Sovatsky, PhD
"Grihasta: The Family as Womb of Consciousness In a Post
Freudian Era"
- Sanjay Chandrasekharan
"Varieties of Supervenience"
- Abrahim H. Khan
"Person and Boundedness in Wittgenstein and Tagore: Positioning
Artificial Intelligence "
MiCon 2002
Mind and Consciousness: Various Approaches
An International Multi-disciplinary Conference on Mind and Consciousness
January 9-11, 2002, IIT Kharagpur, India
A Golden Jubilee Event
Sponsored by The Infinity Foundation
Technical Program Outline
Organized by:
Dept. of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of
Technology, Kharagpur, India.
Coordinators: Dr
C Chakraborti & Dr M K Mandal
Golden Jubilee Celebrations at IIT Kharagpur
In 2002 the Indian Institute of Technology,
Kharagpur, the oldest IIT, completes fifty years of its existence.
This conference will form part of the celebrations.
Introduction
MiCon 2002 was a major international multidisciplinary
conference on the theme of Mind and Consciousness. This conference,
which has been the first of it's kind at I.I.T Kharagpur, was
able to attract notable scholars and researchers from India and
abroad. This conference was supported by:
- Infinity Foundation, USA
- Indian Institute of Advanced study, Shimla,
India
- Indian Council of Philosophical Research,
India
- Council for Scientific and Industrial
Research, India
- Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur,
India
- Indian Council of Medical Research, India.
Delegates
Approximately 75 outstation delegates registered
for this conference out of which 22 delegates are from abroad
representing 10 different countries, namely, Australia, Belgium,
Canada, Finland, Japan, Mexico, Sweden, Turkey, UK, and USA.
The largest contingent of course is from USA. We have about 53
delegates from India including young scholars representing 13
different Universities and 7 different Institutes. In addition,
there were considerable number of local participants in the audience
from colleges and Universities from Kharagpur, Kolkata and the
neighborhood.
Disciplines
Because of the multidisciplinary perspective
that the conference has, scholars belonging to different disciplines,
namely, philosophy, psychology, neuroscience, cognitive science,
psychiatry, linguistics, physics and computer science gathered
to listen to each other and to uncover the missing links in consciousness
studies. The department of Humanities and Social Sciences has
the distinction of having expertise in many of these disciplines;
and in association with our other colleagues at the Institute
belonging to hard sciences, we hope to inch forward towards developing
an eclectic vision on consciousness.
Talks and time duration
The conference lasted for three days and
the sessions included plenary talks, invited lectures, and technical
papers. Time allotted for plenary talks is 40 min, 30 min for
invited lectures and 20 min for technical papers including question
– answer. The plenary talks were delivered by :
- Prof. P.N. Tandon, President, National
Brain Research Centre, New Delhi, India
- Prof. E.C.G. Sudarshan, University of
Texas, USA
- Prof. Kapila Vatsayan, India International
Centre, New Delhi, India
- Prof. P.K. Mukhopadhaya, Jadavpur University,
Calcutta, India
Invited Lectures:
10 invited lectures were presented by:
These were presented by:
- Prof. Abraham H. Khan, Toronto, Canada
- Prof. Novjyoti Singh, New Delhi, India
- Prof. S.C. Malik, New Delhi, India
- Prof. B.N. Patnaik, IIT Kanpur, India
- Prof. A.K. Sinha, Delhi, India
- Prof. Shobini Rao, NIMHANS Bangalore,
India
- Prof. Indrani Sanyal, Jadavpur University,
Calcutta, India
- Prof. G.C. Ray, IIT Kanpur, India
Infinity Foundation Lectures
A special session was sponsored by the
Infinity Foundation, USA. The speakers were:
- Prof. Stephen Philips, University of Texas,
Austin, USA
- Dr. Chakrabarthy Ram Prasad, Lancaster
University, UK
- Dr. Sageetha Menon, NIAS, Bangalore, India
- Dr. Sanjay Chandrasekharan, Carlton University,
Canada
In total, about 38 technical paper from
various disciplines were presented. Details of the technical
programme and session planning can be viewed at http://www.iitkgp.ernet.in/MiCon2002.
A copy of the technical program is enclosed herewith.
The conference has been an overall success.
The delegates have particularly praised the organized effort,
the idea, the qualityand the planning of the conference. It is
hoped that this concerted effort will yield a productive research
program. Work for publishing a post-conference volume comprising
selected full papers presented at the conference is already in
progress under the editorship of Dr. C. Chakraborty, Dr. M.K.
Mandal, and Dr. R.B.Chatterjee of Dept of H.S.S., I.I.T. Kharagpur,
in collaboration with Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla,
India.
Programme
January 9, 2002
S. N. Bose Auditorium (F-134)
8:00 – 8:50 AM Registration
9:00 – 10:00 AM Inaugural session
10:00 – 10:20 AM Inaugural Tea
10:20 – 11:00 AM
Plenary talk I: "Mind and Consciousness: New opportunities
for scientific studies", Prof. P. N. Tandon, President,
National Brain Research Society, New Delhi.
11:00 – 11:40 AM
Plenary talk II: "Science as an aspect of consciousness",
Prof. E.C.G. Sudarshan, Dept of Physics, University of Texas,
Austin, USA.
11:40 – 11:45 AM Coffee break
11:45 – 1:25 pm Parallel Technical Session I: S.
N. Bose Auditorium (F-134)
Chair: Prof. G.C.Ray, Dept of Electrical
Engineering, IIT, Kanpur, India.
Co-chair: Prof B. Chatterjee, Dept of HSS,
IIT Kharagpur
11:45 – 12:15 pm Invited lecture I:
"A Question of Consciousness", Prof. S.C. Malik,
Professor of Anthropology, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library,
Teen Murti Bhavan, New Delhi.
12:15 – 12:45 pm Invited Lecture II:
"Language and thought: A generative linguistic perspective",
Prof. B.N Patnaik, Dept of HSS, IIT Kanpur.
12:45 – 1:25PM
1. "Cooperation and communication
in humans and apes", Drs.. I. Brinck and P. Gardenfors,
Dept. of Philosophy and Cognitive Science, Lund University, Sweden.
2. "A definition of consciousness
and some aspects of it as a Physics problem", Prof.
Tulsi Dass, Dept. of Physics, IIT, Kanpur.
11:45 – 1:25 pm Parallel Technical
Session II: (VGSOM Seminar Room, Vinod Gupta School of Management
Hall A)
Chair: Prof A H Khan, Graduate Center for
the Study of Religion, Trinity College, University of Toronto,
Canada.
Co-chair: Prof B.P Sandilya, Dept of HSS,
IIT Kharagpur.
11:45 – 12:15: Invited lecture III
"Language, mind and the linguistic theory",
Prof (Retd.) A K Sinha, Dept of Linguistics, University of Delhi,
Delhi.
12:15 – 12:45 PM: Invited lecture
IV
"Recognition", Prof. Supriya Chaudhuri, Dept
of English, Jadavpur University, Kolkata.
12:45 – 1:25 PM
1. "Mind and Consciousness; Joyce's
Ulysses", Prof. T.K. Ghosh, Dept of English, Rabindra
Bharati University, Kolkata. .
2. "What is truth? Art and the
mind", Dr. Rimi Chatterjee, Dept of HSS, IIT Kharagpur.
1:30 – 2:25 PM Lunch (Netaji Auditorium
enclosure)
2:30 – 4:25 pm Technical Session
III: S. N. Bose Auditorium (F-134)
Chair: Prof Kapila Vatsyayana, President,
India International Centre, New Delhi.
Co-chair: Prof Chakravarthy Ram Prasad,
Director, Graduate Research, Dept of Religious Studies, Lancaster
University, UK.
2:30 – 3:00 PM: Invited lecture V:
"Cognition of number and the functioning of mind",
Navjyoti Singh, National Institute of Science Technology and
Development Studies, New Delhi.
3:00 – 3:05 PM Tea break
3:05 – 4:05 PM : Technical session
III contd.
1. "No need to have the same consciousness",
Dr. Jaap Van Brakel, Higher Institute of Philosophy. Catholic
University of Leuven, Belgium.
2. "How to have the cake and eat
it: Reduction, yes but with autonomy", Sven Walter,
Dept of Philosophy, University of Saarland,Germany.
3. "Relativism, self-referentiality
and beyond mind", Kundan, California Insitute of Integral
Studies, San Francisco, USA.
2:30 – 4:25 pm Technical Session
IV: VGSOM Seminar Room ( Vinod Gupta School of Management
Hall A)
Chair: Prof Amitava Mukherjee, Dept of
Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Kanpur.
Co-chair: Prof Anupam Basu, Dept of Computer
Science and Engineering, IIT Kharagpur
1. "Is it irrational to talk to
the Chinese Room?", Steffen Borge, Dept of Philosophy,
Syracuse University, USA
2. "Uncertainty, intuition and
knowledge representation", Dr. Kankana Chakraborti,
School of Mathematics and Computer Sciences, University of New
England, Armidale, Australia.
3. "On the rehabilitation of the
knowledge argument", Valteri Arstilla, Dept of Philosophy,
University of Turku, Finland.
4. "Modeling the evolution of spatial
consciousness in children: acquisition of 2D drawing concepts",
Manu Prakash & Prof. Amitava Mukherjee, Dept of Computer
Science, IIT Kanpur.
5. "A computational model for cognition
and remembrance for a navigating robot", K. Madhava
Krishna, Dept of Electrical Engineering, IIT, Kanpur.
Venue: Technology Club.
7:00 pm: Magic show
7:30 pm: Dinner (hosted by Indian Institute of Advanced Study,
Shimla).
January 10, 2002
8:30 – 9:00 AM Registration
9:00 – 9:40 AM S. N. Bose Auditorium
(F-134)
Plenary talk III:
"Alternate paradigms of knowledge", Prof. Kapila
Vatsayan, President, India International Centre.
9:45 – 10:25 AM
Plenary talk IV: "Brain and Consciousness: Between
causes and correlates", Prof P K Mukhopadhyaya, Dept
of Philosophy, Jadavpur University, Kolkata.
10:25 – 10:40 AM Coffee break
10:40 – 12:15 Technical Session
V: S. N. Bose Auditorium (F-134)
Chair: Prof R C Tripathy, Pro-Vice Chancellor,
Allahabad University.
Co-chair: Prof Susumu Harizuka, Professor
of Clinical Psychology, and Director, Kyushu University, Japan.
10:40 – 11:10AM: Invited lecture VI
"Neuropsychological perspectives
on consciousness", Prof. Shobini
Rao, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore.
11:10 – 12:15 PM
1. "What, if anything, is Psychiatry?", Dr.
Dominic Murphy, Division of Humanities and Social Sciences, California
Institute of Technology (CALTECH), USA.
2. "Autism and communication: A
psycho bio-social approach", Dr. Mallika Bannerjee,
Dept of Psychology, Calcutta University, Kolkata.
3. "A comparative evaluation of
the level of cognitive rigidity among brain-damage and psychiatric
cases", Ms. Sujata Das, Ms Aparna Dutt, Dr. Pritha Mukherjee,
Department of Psychology, Calcutta University, Kolkata..
12:15 – 12:20 PM Tea break
Technical Session VI: S. N. Bose Auditorium (F-134)
Chair: Prof Stephen Phillips, Dept of Philosophy,
University of Texas, Austin, USA.
Co-chair:Prof M B Sharan, Dept of HSS,
IIT Kharagpur.
12:20 – 12:50 pm : Invited paper VII
"Consciousness considered as moral
and the first person: the nature of moral consciousness from
the first person perspective",
Prof. Indrani Sanyal, Dept of Philosophy, Jadavpur University,
Kolkata.
12:50 – 1:30PM
1. "Jaspers' communicative truth
as a creative challenge", Dr. Paula Arizpe, Dept of
Humanities, ITESM, ITAM, Mexico.
2. "Mind as the third level of
human thought and action", Dr. James Perry, Hillsborough
Community College, Florida, USA..
1:30 – 2:25 PM Lunch (Netaji Auditorium
enclosure)
2:30 – 5:30 PM Infinity Foundation
Session at S. N. Bose Auditorium (F-134)
Chair: Prof P K Mukhopadhaya, Dept of Philosophy, Jadavpur University,
Kolkata.
Co-chair: Prof S C Malik, Professor of
Anthropology, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, Teen Murti Bhavan,
New Delhi.
1. "The mind-body problem in three
Indian philosophies", Prof. Stephen Phillips, Dept of
Philosophy, University of Texas, Austin, USA.
2. "Autoreflexivity as the defining
feature of consciousness", Dr. Chakravarthy Ram Prasad,
Director, Graduate Research, Dept. of Religious Studies, Lancaster
University, UK.
3. "Spiritual depths of admiration
in family therapy", Dr. Stuart Sovatsky, Infinity Foundation,
Princeton, New Jersey, USA.
4. "Binding experiences for a first-person
approach: Looking at Indian ways of thinking (DARSANA) and acting
(NATYA) in the context of current discussions of 'Consciousness'",
Dr. Sangeetha Menon,. Associate Fellow, National Institute of
Advanced Studies, Bangalore.
5. "Varieties of supervenience",
Sanjay Chandrasekharan, Cognitive Science Program, Carlton University,
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
4:00 – 4:10 PM Coffee break
Cultural Program: Venue: Netaji Auditorium
6:00 pm A Flute recital
6:30 pm Rhythms of the Soil, Dance Program by Sarabhuj.
From 8:00 PM: Dinner Venue: Technology
Club.
January 11, 2002
S. N. Bose Auditorium (F-134)
9:00 – 9:30 AM : Invited lecture VIII:
"An Experimental approach to conscious-intelligence",
Prof. G.C.Ray, Dept of Electrical Engineering, IIT, Kanpur.
9:30 – 10:00 AM: Invited lecture IX:
"Person and Boundedness in Wittgenstein and Tagore: Positioning
Artificial Intelligence", Prof. Abrahim H. Khan, Graduate
Center for the Study of Religion, Trinity College, University
of Toronto, Canada.
10:00 – 10:10 AM Coffee break
10:10 – 1:00 PM Parallel technical
sessions VII and VIII
Technical session VII: S. N. Bose Auditorium
(F-134)
Chair: Dr Stuart Sovatsky, Infinity Foundation.
Co-chair: Prof H R Tewari, Dept of HSS,
IIT Kharagpur.
10:10 – 10:40 am Invited lecture X:
"The Ecological Mind: Some evidence
from cross-cultural studies" ,
Prof R C Mishra, Dept. of Psychology, Benaras Hindu University,
Varanasi.
10:40 – 11:10 AM Invited lecture XI:
Prof R C Tripathy, Pro-Vice Chancellor,
Allahabad University.
1. "EEG correlates of meditative
state: nonlinear analysis". Dr. N. Passynkova, Daniletz
A.V., Vatnik D.M., Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Medical
Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia.
2. "A neuro-thermodynamic framework
for explaining mind and consciousness", Manoj Srivastava,
Dept of HSS, IIT Kanpur.
3. "Beyond scientific objectivity",
Dr. W. Korab-Karpowicz, Dept. of International Relations, Bilkent
University, Ankara, Turkey.
4. "A neuro-psychology of consciousness",
Braj Bhushan, Krishnamurti Foundation India, Varanasi.
5. "Well-guarded mind",
Lalan Jha, Dept of Buddhist Studies, University of Delhi.
10:10 – 1:00 PM Technical session
VIII: Vinod Gupta School of Management Hall A)
Chair: Prof Indrani Sanyal, Dept of Philosophy,
Jadavpur University, Kolkata.
Co-chair: Prof Partha Basu, Dept of HSS,
IIT Kharagpur.
6. "The human in the ontological
space of the present time", Dr.Tamara Gourtoueva, Dept
of Foreign Languages, Fatih University, Istanbul, Turkey.
7. "The fuzzyworld in Raja Rao's
The cat and Shakespeare", Dr. Krishna Barua., Dept of
HSS, IIT Guwahati.
8. "The theory of mind in early
Buddhist Philosophy", Rana P.K. Singh Dept of Buddhist
Studies, University of Delhi.
9. "A Rose is a rose is a rose",
Vijay Chandrasekharan, Covansys India Ltd., Chennai.
10. "The Conditioned and the unconditioned
mind", Prof. Veda Parayana, Dept of Philosophy, S.V.
University, Tirupati.
1:05 – 2:00 PM Lunch (Netaji Auditorium
enclosure)
2:05 – 3:00 PM Valedictory Session
S.N. Bose Auditorium (F-134)
For More Information:
MiCon 2002, Department of Humanities &
Social Sciences, Indian
Institute of Technology, Kharagpur,
West Bengal 721 302, India.
micon02@hijli.iitkgp.ernet.in
Fax: +91-3222-82270/55303
Tel: +91 3222 82269 / 83602 / 83634
Please visit MiCon2002 website at: http://www.iitkgp.ernet.in/MiCon2002/
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