Professor Daniel D. Hutto, visiting from Australia, will navigate topics such as narrative practices as a cornerstone of human social life and new ideas in the area of cognitive science in two upcoming lectures.
Hutto will present two lectures as part of the annual Walter Powell Philosophy Lecture series March 19-20 at Linfield College. Hutto will present “Making Sense of Ourselves and Others: Narratives not Theories” on Monday, March 19, at 7 p.m. in Jonasson Hall on the lower level of Melrose Hall at Linfield. He will then present “Radical Enactivism: Rethinking Basic Minds” on Tuesday, March 20, at 7 p.m. in Jonasson Hall.
The first lecture will explore how making sense of each other’s reasons is a cornerstone of human social life. It involves attributing beliefs, desires and hopes in complex ways. Hutto will discuss how it is so deeply ingrained in our daily existence that we tend only to notice it, and its critical importance, when it is damaged or absent altogether – as it is for severely autistic individuals. Hutto defends that narrative practices might be central for stimulating important aspects of our social understanding and noted that, if true, it excludes the prospect that this crucial ability is one which is built-in to members of our species.
In his second lecture, Hutto will question the widely accepted idea that our minds are in our heads and their contents are furnished by our senses, that eyes and ears transmit information from the world that is received by the brain and that our brains then compile this information to construct models and representations of the outer world, allowing us to deal with it intelligently. Hutto will discuss the possibility that brains do not take in and process any information at all. Perhaps having a mind is more a matter of continually and actively engaging with selective aspects of our environment in sensitive ways.
Hutto is professor of philosophical psychology at the University of Wollongong in Australia. His most recent book is “Evolving Enactivism: Basic Minds Meet Content,” co-authored with Eric Myin. They are also co-authors of the award-winning “Radicalizing Enactivism: Basic Minds Without Content,” which was designated a Choice Outstanding Academic Title and given honorable mention at the PROSE Awards for “pioneering works of research.” He has also published “Wittgenstein and the End of Philosophy” and “Folk Psychological Narratives.” He is also editor of “Narrative and Understanding Persons” and “Narrative and Folk Psychology.” A special yearbook, “Radical Enactivism,” focusing on his philosophy of intentionality, phenomenology and narrative, was published in 2006. He regularly speaks at conferences and expert meetings for clinical psychiatrists, educationalists, narratologists, neuroscientists and psychologists.
The Walter Powell-Linfield College Annual Philosophy Lectureship is in recognition of a generous gift from Michael Powell in honor of his father. Walter Powell founded Powell’s Bookstore in Portland, the largest private bookstore in the United States. Frank Nelson, professor emeritus from Linfield College’s Department of Philosophy, established the lecture series. The series has hosted some of the most recognized philosophers in the U.S. and abroad.
The talk is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Jesús Ilundáin-Agurruza at jilunda@linfield.edu or 503-883-2362.
