Conference "Perception, Action and Consciousness : Sensorimotor Dynamics and Dual Vision”
1-3 July 2007, Bristol, UK
A study of consciousness in the context of naturally and culturally embedded cognitive agents requires in depth analysis of how action is related to the agent’s awareness of the world. The CONTACT conference and workshop 1-3 July 2007, Bristol, sought to explore this and similar issues from an interdisciplinary perspective by bringing together leading exponents in the field. The conference and the following workshop took up the challenge of providing a definite direction to issues of agency and experience in a scientific study of consciousness by contrasting two broad views of how action is related to visual awareness. The integrationists ('active' or 'enactive' or ‘sensorimotor dynamics’ approaches) regard action as integral to consciousness. The separatists (including prominently the dual vision theory) regard vision for sensorimotor control as an unconscious dorsal stream function and conscious visual perception as a ventral stream function. The CONTACT events at Bristol brought the proponents of these different views together, along with the distinct streams of evidence to which they appeal, in order better to understand whether they actually conflict, how different lines of evidence should be related, and the broader theoretical relations between action and consciousness. The speakers at the conference were leading figures from diverse disciplines like neuroscience, psychology, philosophy, psychophysics, artificial intelligence and robotics. Their enthusiastic participation in the events and interaction with the CNCC members can be seen as a firm step toward the creation and enrichment of fruitful and dynamic research exchanges.
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