Luke Kersten
PhD Philosophy
- Philosophy
- School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences
Contact details
- Email: s1647339@ed.ac.uk
- Web: My Webpage
Address
- Street
-
Dugald Stewart Building
- City
- 3 Charles Street, Edinburgh
- Post code
- EH8 9AD
Qualifications
- Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
Undergraduate teaching
- Greats: From Plato to the Enlightenment, University of Edinburgh, 2020
- Morality and Value, University of Edinburgh, 2019
- Mind, Matter, and Language, University of Edinburgh, 2018
- Philosophy of Science, University of Edinburgh, 2017
- Logic, University of Edinburgh, 2016-19
- Introduction to Cognitive Science, Carleton University, 2015-16
- Philosophy of Mind, Carleton University, 2015
- Critical Thinking, Carleton University, 2014-15
- Introduction to Philosophy: Values and Society, University of Alberta, 2012-13
Postgraduate teaching
- Advanced Philosophy of Mind and Cognitive Science, University of Edinburgh, 2016
Research summary
Philosophy of Cognitive Science, Psychology and Mind, Philosophy of Science, Music Cognition
Publications
Journal Articles
- 2020. "How to be concrete: mechanistic computation and the abstraction problem." Philosophical Explorations, 23(3), 251-266.
- 2017. “Extended Music Cognition.” Philosophical Psychology, 30(8), 1078-1103.
- 2017. “A Mechanistic Account of Wide Computationalism.” Review of Psychology and Philosophy, 8(3), 501-517.
- 2016. (with Robert Wilson) “The Sound of Music: Externalist Style.” American Philosophical Quarterly, 53(2), 139-154.
- 2015. “Music and Cognitive Extension.” Empirical Musicology Review, 9(3-4), 193-202.
Conference Proceedings
- 2019. “Thinking through the implications of neural reuse for the additive factors method.” In A. K. Goel, C. M. Seifert & C. Freska (eds.), (pp. 2005-2010). Proceedings of the 41st Annual Conference of Cognitive Science Society. Montreal, QC: Cognitive Science Society.
- 2017. “The Narrow Conception of Computational Psychology.” In G. Gunzelmann, A. Howes, T. Tenbrink, & E. Davelaar (Eds.), Proceedings of the 39th Annual Conference of Cognitive Science Society (pp.2389-2394). Austin, TX: Cognitive Science Society.
- 2017. (with Joe Dewhurst & George Deane) “Resolving two tensions in 4E cognition using wide computationalism.” In G. Gunzelmann, A. Howes, T. Tenbrink, & E. Davelaar (Eds.), Proceedings of the 39th Annual Conference of Cognitive Science Society (pp.2395-2400). Austin, TX: Cognitive Science Society.
- 2016. (with Robert West & Andrew Brook) “Leveling the Field: Talking Levels in Cognitive Science.” In A. Papafragou, D. Grodner, D. Mirman, & J.C. Trueswell (Eds.), Proceedings of the 38th Annual Conference of Cognitive Science Society (pp.2399-2404). Austin, TX: Cognitive Science Society.
Published Commentaries
- 2016. “Processor vs. Process Accounts of Stage Models: A Cautionary Tale.” Frontiers in Psychology, 7(719), 1-3.
- 2016. “Commentary: The Alleged Coupling-Constitution Fallacy and the Mature Sciences.” Frontiers in Psychology, 7(2033), 1-2.
Knowledge exchange
- Philosopher in Residence, Portobello High School, 2020
- Philosopher in Residence, The Philosophy Foundation, Abbey Hill Primary School, 2018-2019
- Presenter, Sutton Trust Summer School, University of Edinburgh, 2017-2019
- PPLS Representative, Athena Swan, University of Edinburgh, 2016-17
- Counselor, Philosophy for Children (Eurekamp) Summer Camp, 2013 - 14
- Presenter, Uschool Program, University of Alberta, 2013-14
- Organizer, Eugenics Awareness Week, University of Alberta, 2013
- Presenter, Philosophers in Residence Program, University of Alberta, 2012
Project activity
Wide Computationalism
My doctoral research focuses on developing a mechanistic approach to wide computationalism. The core idea is that some computational mechanisms constitutively include elements of the embedding environment, and that these mechanisms form the proper target of computational explanations within cognitive science. Drawing on empirical and philosophical resources, I aim to create a robust account that provides conceptual and methodological guidance for researchers.
Levels in Cognitive Science
I have spent some time in recent years thinking about the concept of levels and its role within cognitive science. Talk of levels is not only ubiquitous within cognitive science, but it also plays a central role within foundational discussions. My broad aim has been to show that a pluralistic approach to levels helps to generate a more complete understanding of what is going on in cognitive science, both in terms of theorising and modelling.
4E Music Cognition
The explosion of research in embodied, embedded, enactive and extended cognition has done much to change how we think about and study the mind. In pursuit of further developing the 4E framework, I have sought to integrate theories of embodied, embedded, and extended cognition into the study of music cognition. My aim has been to advance the study of music cognition by focusing on the ways in which musical processes are often integrated with and heavily dependent on body and world.
Papers delivered
- “Thinking through the implications of neural reuse for the additive factors method.” 41st Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society, Palais des Congres, Montreal, Quebec, July 24-27, 2019
- “Resolving two tensions in 4E cognition.” The 61st Annual Congress of the Canadian Philosophical Association, Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada, May 30, 2017.
- “The Narrow Conception of Computational Psychology.” 12th Annual Open Minds Conference, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK, December 3, 2016.
- “Levels in Cognitive Science.” 24th Annual Conference of the European Society for Philosophy and Psychology, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, Scotland, August 12, 2016. (with Robert West & Andrew Brook).
- “Leveling the Field: Talking Levels in Cognitive Science.” 38th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society, Philadelphia, US, August 10, 2016.
- “Music Cognition and the Extended Mind.” Situating Cognition: 2nd International Conference in Trends in Interdisciplinary Studies, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland, October 18, 2015.
- “Music, Affect, and Extended Cognition.” The Affect Conference: Memory, Aesthetics, and Ethics, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, CA, September 19, 2015.
- “Simple Networks, Complex Music: An Investigation into Embodied Representations.” Embodied Music Cognition Conference, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, July 22, 2013. (with Joshua Hathway & Michael Dawson)
2018 PPLS -Gray Publication Prize, University of Edinburgh
2016 Senate Medal for Outstanding Academic Achievement, Carleton University
2015 David and Rachel Epstein Award, Carleton University
2015 Alfred & Isabel Bader Student Award, Carleton University
2013 Graduate Student Award, Advanced Education, Government of Alberta
2013 Profiling Graduate Student Award, University of Alberta