Biological Naturalism about Consciousness
November 5-6, 2026
Royce Hall 306
RSVP HERE
Please join us for the “Biological Naturalism about Consciousness,” a conference at UCLA from Thursday-Friday, November 5-6, 2026.
About the conference
Can non-biological systems be conscious? If not, why not? These questions have taken on new weight as AI systems become increasingly sophisticated, not least because our answers bear on which entities might matter morally.
This conference focuses on biological naturalism: the family of views holding that certain biological properties are required for consciousness. Biological naturalism is often positioned as the principal alternative to functionalism. But compared to its rival, biological naturalism remains underdeveloped as a positive research program—its central commitments are still being clarified, its empirical predictions are still being articulated, and the range of strategies for defending it are only now being explored systematically. (For discussion, see this survey.)
Our aim is to bring together researchers who want to make progress toward developing a positive version of biological naturalism.
Speakers
- Peter Godfrey-Smith
- Ned Block
- Rosa Cao
- Jonathan Birch
- Mathias Michel
- Christian de Weerd
- Eric Schwitzgebel & Jeremy Pober
- Carolyn Dicey Jennings
- Jake Spinella
- Daria Zakharova
- Derek Shiller
Organizers: Josh Armstrong, UCLA; Hayley Clatterbuck, UCLA and Rethink Priorities; Bob Fischer, Texas State University and Rethink Priorities
Workshop Program
Coming soon!
RSVP HERE
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