Institut Jean Nicod
Encyclopedia
The Institut Jean Nicod (also known as IJN) is a CNRS research center based in Paris
, France
. Founded in 2000, its name commemorates the French philosopher and logician Jean Nicod
(1893-1924). At present, the Institute is co-hosted by the École Normale Supérieure
and the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales
, two prestigious French institutions for research
and higher education
. Research carried by its members has a strongly interdisciplinary profile, at the interface between philosophy
, cognitive science
, and the social sciences
. The main scientific fields covered by the Institute include: linguistics
(semantics
and pragmatics
), cognitive anthropology
and philosophy of mind
. Although most members of the group are philosophers, the issues addressed are not purely conceptual and have a strong empirical component. For several years, members of the Institute have led research projects in collaboration with cognitive and developmental psychologists, neuropsychologists and cognitive neuroscientists.
The Jean Nicod Institute was the first French institution (and among the first in Europe) in the field of the social sciences to embrace an open access policy with respect to its scientific production, providing free and unconstrained access to the totality of its publications. The Institute hosts two academic journal
s, the European Review of Philosophy (CSLI Publications, 1994-2006) and the Review of Philosophy and Psychology
(Springer, 2010-), as well as a the Jean Nicod Lectures
series (MIT Press, 1995-). Every year, the IJN website provides information on the Jean Nicod Prize
, awarded by the French CNRS to a leading philosopher of mind
or philosophically oriented cognitive scientist
.
Scott Atran
, Claire Beyssade, Sacha Bourgeois-Gironde, Alban Bouvier, Richard Carter, Roberto Casati, Francis Corblin, Philippe De Brabanter, Frédérique de Vignemont, Vincent Descombes
, Jérôme Dokic, Paul Egré, Jon Elster
, Pascal Engel
, Pierre Jacob, Max Kistler, Pascal Ludwig, Alda Mari, Frédéric Nef, David Nicolas, Gloria Origgi
, Elisabeth Pacherie, Jérôme Pelletier, Guy Politzer, Joëlle Proust, François Recanati, Philippe Schlenker, Benjamin Spector, Dan Sperber
, Dominique Sportiche, Isidora Stojanovic, Nassim Taleb, Claudine Tiercelin, Tiziana Zalla.
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Founded in 2000, its name commemorates the French philosopher and logician Jean Nicod
Jean Nicod
Jean George Pierre Nicod was a French philosopher and logician.In his best known work, he showed that the classical propositional calculus could be derived from one axiom and one rule, both expressed using the Sheffer stroke...
(1893-1924). At present, the Institute is co-hosted by the École Normale Supérieure
École Normale Supérieure
The École normale supérieure is one of the most prestigious French grandes écoles...
and the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales
École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales
The École des hautes études en sciences sociales is a leading French institution for research and higher education, a Grand Établissement. Its mission is research and research training in the social sciences, including the relationship these latter maintain with the natural and life sciences...
, two prestigious French institutions for research
Research
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
and higher education
Higher education
Higher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...
. Research carried by its members has a strongly interdisciplinary profile, at the interface between philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
, cognitive science
Cognitive science
Cognitive science is the interdisciplinary scientific study of mind and its processes. It examines what cognition is, what it does and how it works. It includes research on how information is processed , represented, and transformed in behaviour, nervous system or machine...
, and the social sciences
Social sciences
Social science is the field of study concerned with society. "Social science" is commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to a plurality of fields outside of the natural sciences usually exclusive of the administrative or managerial sciences...
. The main scientific fields covered by the Institute include: linguistics
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
(semantics
Semantics
Semantics is the study of meaning. It focuses on the relation between signifiers, such as words, phrases, signs and symbols, and what they stand for, their denotata....
and pragmatics
Pragmatics
Pragmatics is a subfield of linguistics which studies the ways in which context contributes to meaning. Pragmatics encompasses speech act theory, conversational implicature, talk in interaction and other approaches to language behavior in philosophy, sociology, and linguistics. It studies how the...
), cognitive anthropology
Cognitive anthropology
Cognitive anthropology is an approach within cultural anthropology in which scholars seek to explain patterns of shared knowledge, cultural innovation, and transmission over time and space using the methods and theories of the cognitive sciences often through close collaboration with historians,...
and philosophy of mind
Philosophy of mind
Philosophy of mind is a branch of philosophy that studies the nature of the mind, mental events, mental functions, mental properties, consciousness and their relationship to the physical body, particularly the brain. The mind-body problem, i.e...
. Although most members of the group are philosophers, the issues addressed are not purely conceptual and have a strong empirical component. For several years, members of the Institute have led research projects in collaboration with cognitive and developmental psychologists, neuropsychologists and cognitive neuroscientists.
The Jean Nicod Institute was the first French institution (and among the first in Europe) in the field of the social sciences to embrace an open access policy with respect to its scientific production, providing free and unconstrained access to the totality of its publications. The Institute hosts two academic journal
Academic journal
An academic journal is a peer-reviewed periodical in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as forums for the introduction and presentation for scrutiny of new research, and the critique of existing research...
s, the European Review of Philosophy (CSLI Publications, 1994-2006) and the Review of Philosophy and Psychology
Review of Philosophy and Psychology
The Review of Philosophy and Psychology is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by Springer that focuses on philosophical and foundational issues in cognitive science...
(Springer, 2010-), as well as a the Jean Nicod Lectures
Jean Nicod Prize
The Jean Nicod Prize is awarded annually in Paris to a leading philosopher of mind or philosophically-oriented cognitive scientist. The lectures are organized by the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique as part of its effort to promote interdisciplinary research in cognitive science in...
series (MIT Press, 1995-). Every year, the IJN website provides information on the Jean Nicod Prize
Jean Nicod Prize
The Jean Nicod Prize is awarded annually in Paris to a leading philosopher of mind or philosophically-oriented cognitive scientist. The lectures are organized by the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique as part of its effort to promote interdisciplinary research in cognitive science in...
, awarded by the French CNRS to a leading philosopher of mind
Philosophy of mind
Philosophy of mind is a branch of philosophy that studies the nature of the mind, mental events, mental functions, mental properties, consciousness and their relationship to the physical body, particularly the brain. The mind-body problem, i.e...
or philosophically oriented cognitive scientist
Cognitive science
Cognitive science is the interdisciplinary scientific study of mind and its processes. It examines what cognition is, what it does and how it works. It includes research on how information is processed , represented, and transformed in behaviour, nervous system or machine...
.
People
Researchers based at IJN include:Scott Atran
Scott Atran
Scott Atran is an American and French anthropologist.-Education and early career:Atran was born in New York City in 1952 and he received his PhD in anthropology from Columbia University. While a student at Columbia, he became assistant to anthropologist Margaret Mead at the American Museum of...
, Claire Beyssade, Sacha Bourgeois-Gironde, Alban Bouvier, Richard Carter, Roberto Casati, Francis Corblin, Philippe De Brabanter, Frédérique de Vignemont, Vincent Descombes
Vincent Descombes
Vincent Descombes is a French philosopher. His major work has been in the philosophy of language and philosophy of mind. He is particularly noted for a lengthy critique in two volumes of the project he calls cognitivism, and which is, roughly, the view current in philosophy of mind that mental...
, Jérôme Dokic, Paul Egré, Jon Elster
Jon Elster
Jon Elster is a Norwegian social and political theorist who has authored works in the philosophy of social science and rational choice theory...
, Pascal Engel
Pascal Engel
Pascal Engel is a French philosopher, working on the philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, epistemology and philosophy of logic. He was a professor of philosophy of logic at the Sorbonne, he currently works at the University of Geneva, where he collaborates with, among others, Kevin Mulligan...
, Pierre Jacob, Max Kistler, Pascal Ludwig, Alda Mari, Frédéric Nef, David Nicolas, Gloria Origgi
Gloria Origgi
Gloria Origgi is an Italian philosopher at the CNRS in Paris who works on the theory of mind, epistemology and cognitive sciences applied to new technology...
, Elisabeth Pacherie, Jérôme Pelletier, Guy Politzer, Joëlle Proust, François Recanati, Philippe Schlenker, Benjamin Spector, Dan Sperber
Dan Sperber
Dan Sperber is a French social and cognitive scientist. His most influential work has been in the fields of cognitive anthropology and linguistic pragmatics: developing, with British psychologist Deirdre Wilson, relevance theory in the latter; and an approach to cultural evolution known as the...
, Dominique Sportiche, Isidora Stojanovic, Nassim Taleb, Claudine Tiercelin, Tiziana Zalla.
See also
- Jean NicodJean NicodJean George Pierre Nicod was a French philosopher and logician.In his best known work, he showed that the classical propositional calculus could be derived from one axiom and one rule, both expressed using the Sheffer stroke...
- Jean Nicod PrizeJean Nicod PrizeThe Jean Nicod Prize is awarded annually in Paris to a leading philosopher of mind or philosophically-oriented cognitive scientist. The lectures are organized by the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique as part of its effort to promote interdisciplinary research in cognitive science in...
- Cognitive scienceCognitive scienceCognitive science is the interdisciplinary scientific study of mind and its processes. It examines what cognition is, what it does and how it works. It includes research on how information is processed , represented, and transformed in behaviour, nervous system or machine...
(ConsciousnessConsciousnessConsciousness is a term that refers to the relationship between the mind and the world with which it interacts. It has been defined as: subjectivity, awareness, the ability to experience or to feel, wakefulness, having a sense of selfhood, and the executive control system of the mind...
, NeuroscienceNeuroscienceNeuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system. Traditionally, neuroscience has been seen as a branch of biology. However, it is currently an interdisciplinary science that collaborates with other fields such as chemistry, computer science, engineering, linguistics, mathematics,...
) - LinguisticsLinguisticsLinguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
(PsycholinguisticsPsycholinguisticsPsycholinguistics or psychology of language is the study of the psychological and neurobiological factors that enable humans to acquire, use, comprehend and produce language. Initial forays into psycholinguistics were largely philosophical ventures, due mainly to a lack of cohesive data on how the...
, PragmaticsPragmaticsPragmatics is a subfield of linguistics which studies the ways in which context contributes to meaning. Pragmatics encompasses speech act theory, conversational implicature, talk in interaction and other approaches to language behavior in philosophy, sociology, and linguistics. It studies how the...
, SemanticsSemanticsSemantics is the study of meaning. It focuses on the relation between signifiers, such as words, phrases, signs and symbols, and what they stand for, their denotata....
) - PhilosophyPhilosophyPhilosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
(Philosophy of mindPhilosophy of mindPhilosophy of mind is a branch of philosophy that studies the nature of the mind, mental events, mental functions, mental properties, consciousness and their relationship to the physical body, particularly the brain. The mind-body problem, i.e...
, Philosophy of psychologyPhilosophy of psychologyPhilosophy of psychology refers to issues at the theoretical foundations of modern psychology. Some of these issues are epistemological concerns about the methodology of psychological investigation...
) - Social sciencesSocial sciencesSocial science is the field of study concerned with society. "Social science" is commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to a plurality of fields outside of the natural sciences usually exclusive of the administrative or managerial sciences...
(SociologySociologySociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
, Cognitive anthropologyCognitive anthropologyCognitive anthropology is an approach within cultural anthropology in which scholars seek to explain patterns of shared knowledge, cultural innovation, and transmission over time and space using the methods and theories of the cognitive sciences often through close collaboration with historians,...
)