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Purdue Normativity and Cognitions (PuNCs) Lab

Red and Orange Gradient

Using Cognitive Insights to Explore Action and Morality 

The PuNCs (Purdue Normativity and Cognitions) Lab is our dedicated experimental philosophy lab at Purdue University, run by PI Javier Gomez-Lavin. Here we use methods from social and cognitive psychology to test philosophical intuitions about core issues in the philosophy of action, social ontology and moral psychology. We’re especially interested in understanding people’s perceptions of joint action, or working together, and the norms that generate and shape these social moments. The PuNCs Lab shares space and significant resources with the VRAI Lab without being a proper part of the VRAI Lab. Rather, the space, and many of people and resources do “double duty” as proper parts of both labs. The experimental philosophy work done by the PuNCs Lab is recognized as a central research priority of the VRAI Lab.

PuNCs Live! Speaker Series

October 22

John Dyck
(Auburn University)

"Simple Beauty"

From 5:30-6:30PM in PFEN 103

Light refreshments provided.

 It seems clear that things can be aesthetically valuable, or beautiful, because they are simple. But this is a controversial idea. Some people allege that simple things could never be beautiful because they cannot warrant sustained appreciation. Beauty always draws us back, and simple art doesn’t give us anything to come back to.

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I defend simple beauty against this allegation. Simple beauties, I argue, present existential truths that are worth coming back to because of their importance and our forgetfulness.

Previous PuNCs Live! Talks

September 27

Laura Soter, "Investigating Children's Theory of Belief Change"

Contact

Interested in PuNCs? Get in touch for more information. 

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