ISPSM 2026
4th Annual Web Conference of the International Society for the Philosophy of the Sciences of the Mind
What is the mind, and how does it work? Centuries of philosophical and scientific investigation have shown that these questions are too big to be tackled once and for all with a single explanatory endeavor. The magnitude of this pursuit has necessitated a multidisciplinary approach: several disciplinary fields have tackled the investigation of some facets of the mind from their own perspectives, possibly enriching and complicating the very notion of mind in the process.
In this fourth web conference, we seek again to bring together many of these perspectives to obtain a comprehensive and multi-scale landscape. The International Society for the Philosophy of the Sciences of the Mind (ISPSM) thus invites all philosophers working on any science of the mind (broadly construed) to submit an abstract for a paper or a symposium.
Participating in in-person events comes with challenges for many researchers, either due to funding, disability, or other social circumstances as well as the contribution to CO₂ emission.
We make it our mission to organise an online event where the state-of-the-art in the philosophy of the sciences of the mind will be presented and discussed open to everyone, regardless of their academic position and/or geographic location.
We strongly encourage scholars that are members of underrepresented groups or are based in institutions that are underrepresented to participate and engage.
To facilitate participation of scholars from all around the globe, the conference will be spread over several days and time zones.
Dates of the event:
- 4 November 2026
- 5 November 2026
- 6 November 202
Confirmed keynote speakers 2026:
Devon Bailey
University of Johannesburg, Republic of South Africa
Louise Barrett
University of Lethbridge, Canada
Ali Boyle
LSE, United Kingdom
Melina Gastelum Vargas
UNAM, Mexico
Michael Kirchhoff
University of Wollongong, Australia
Yukie Nagai
University of Tokyo, Japan
A non-exhaustive list of disciplines and topics include:
- Philosophy of psychology
- Philosophy of neuroscience
- Philosophy of artificial intelligence & robotics
- Philosophy of linguistics
- Philosophy of (cognitive) anthropology
- Philosophy of ethology
- Philosophy of biology
- Philosophy of psychiatry
- Philosophy of social sciences
- 4E cognition
Dates
Deadline for abstract submission: 31st July 2026
Where: the conference is fully online
Fees: no fee is required
Further Inquiries: ispsmofficial@gmail.com
Information for submission
Abstracts for papers (about 30 minutes each including Q&A) should be anonymized PDFs of maximum 500 words, excluding references and 3-5 keywords. To submit an abstract, please use the following link.
Proposals for symposia (2 hours including Q&A, maximum 4 papers) should be PDF files between 1500 and 2000 words, excluding references and 3-5 keywords. Unlike papers, they should not be anonymized: speakers' affiliations and contacts should be included in the main text.
To submit a symposium proposal, please use the following link.
Previous Abstract Book 2025
Previous Conference Program 2025
Download the technical instructions to use our online platform!
Programme chairs:
Valeria Becattini, Scuola Superiore Universitaria IUSS Pavia, Pavia, Italy
Liberty Severs, Ruhr-Univesität Bochum and the University of Lisbon, Germany and Portugal.
Marco Facchin, Universiteit Antwerpen
Bräuchle, Lara - Ruhr-Univesität Bochum, Germany.
Clavel Vásquez, Jimena M. - Tilburg University, the Netherlands
Carlos Barth - Jesuit Faculty of Philosophy and Theology (FAJE)
Laura Oppi - Center for Subjectivity Research, University of Copenhagen
Negro, Niccolò - School of psychological sciences, Tel Aviv University, Israel
April Owens - University of Cambridge
Program committee (ISPSM Council members)
Inês Hipólito (Macquarie University)
Fabrizio Calzavarini (University of Turin)
Liza Skidelsky (Universidad de Buenos Aires)
Don Ross (University College Cork / University of Cape Town)
Krushil Watene (University of Auckland)
Katsunori Miyahara (Hokkaido University)
Founders and Past Presidents:
Gualtiero Piccinini Founder and Past President (2022-23)
Inês Hipólito Founder and Past President (2023-24)
Best meme prize
Many scientific societies have prizes for the best paper. As an online-based society, we instead launch a contest for the best graphic meme regarding the philosophy of the sciences of the mind. According to Collins Dictionary, "A meme is something such as a video, picture, or phrase that a lot of people send to each other on the internet." In this contest, we are interested in memes formed by static images + text and GIFs.
The contest is open to all those who submit a paper or a symposium at the conference: to participate, simply add up to one .GIF or .JPEG file titled "ISPSM2026 Best Meme Contest." Memes should aim to elicit a laugh and then a thought (similarly to the Ig Nobel prize) and should abide by the ISPSM code of conduct (https://www.ispsmind.com/). The winning meme will be hosted on the society's homepage and social media. The winner will be selected by the Program Committee.by James Luong
Best Meme Contest 2025
