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Last modified 30 Mar 07
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Philosophy Program RSSS, ANU |
Background
Members of the Philosophy Program became eligible to apply for competitive grants awarded by the Australian Research Council (ARC) in 2002. Below is a list of all ARC grants held by Program members and administered within the Program. Lists of earlier grants are maintained in the archives. Additional ARC grants are held in conjunction with scholars from other academic departments and universities. Full details of all ARC grants with which Program members are associated can be obtained by contacting the Program's Administrator.
Current ARC projects
The Evolution of the Social Brain: How Emotions and Moral Judgement Interact in the Generation of Cooperative Behaviour
DP0771459
Dr RJ Joyce; Prof K Sterelny; Prof F Cowie (Caltech)
2007:$65,118
2008:$60,118
2009:$60,118
Understanding the psychological forces that underpin human interactions is a necessary step to knowing how to improve those interactions. Comprehending the complex interplay of emotions and moral judgements lying behind decision-making in the social sphere will help explain such things as corruption, risk-taking, domestic violence, and political affiliation. Such knowledge can guide the design of effective social policy, and is vital for a realistic educational strategy. This project will strengthen Australia's excellent reputation in philosophy, bring here leading scholars from diverse fields, build international research networks, and in particular forge an ongoing partnership between the ANU and the California Institute of Technology.
The Mathematical and Philosophical Foundations of Probability
DP0774343
Prof Alan R Hajek
2007:$60,000
2008:$50,000
2009:$50,000
We find probability wherever we find uncertainty: virtually everywhere in our lives. Probability is essential to almost every technology. High-stakes decisions are routinely made on the basis of probability judgments and risk assessment-for example, in engineering, medicine, agriculture, environmental management, urban planning, public policy, public health, the law, and in our national defence. And some of those decisions have been made badly because of poor probability estimates-witness the 1986 space shuttle disaster. Our current methodologies for using probability are inadequate. This project will make an important contribution to the collective enterprise of enhancing our understanding of probability and its myriad applications.
The High-Level Structure of Consciousness DP0774147
Prof David Chalmers (RSSS,ANU); Prof Ned Block (NYU); Prof Susanna Siegel (Harvard)
2007:$70,000
2008:$60,000
2009:$70,000
The study of consciousness is often regarded as the last great frontier for science. Work in this area has flowered recently, but it has focused on low-level aspects of consciousness, such as visual perception of color and shape. We aim to discover the high-level structure of consciousness, which involves attention, self-consciousness, and the unity of consciousness, among other things. The project involves international collaboration in a three-way interaction between philosophy, cognitive science, and phenomenology. This work has potential social benefits, for example in understanding attention in distracted drivers, and potential medical benefits, in understanding breakdowns of the unity of consciousness in patients with mental illness.
The Contents of Consciousness
Prof David Chalmers (RSSS, ANU)
Award: Federation Fellowship for 5 years from 2004
Original institution: University of Arizona
Primary research field: Philosophy of Cognition
The Federation Fellowship project aims to develop a research centre that will be a world leader in the study of consciousness. The focus will be the question: How does human consciousness represent the world? The science of consciousness has seen explosive growth internationally in the past decade, but the relationship between consciousness and representation is not well understood. Through local and international collaboration, researchers will develop a framework for understanding the representational content of consciousness and will analyse experimental work at the leading edge of neuroscience and cognitive science. The project aims to improve understanding of consciousness, of representation and of associated neural and cognitive mechanisms. Potentially, this could lead to social and medical benefits such as contributing to ethical and legal considerations associated with patients in coma.
Epistemic Warrant: Transmission Failure, Basic Knowledge and Entitlement
DP0665579
Prof MK Davies (RSSS, ANU), Prof C Wright (University of St Andrews)
2006: $75,553
2007: $75,553
2008: $80,500
This Project will bring substantial intellectual, cultural, and economic benefits to the nation Ð not only by increasing research strength, contributing to research output and establishing an international research partnership, but also by deepening the relationship between the study of the mind and theory of knowledge as a traditional area within philosophy and thus helping to maintain the pivotal position of philosophy in our intellectual life. Students, early career researchers and established philosophers will benefit from access to the intellectual and institutional resources of international partner universities and there will be substantial and quantifiable financial contributions by international universities and research agencies.
Norms, Reasons & Values
DP0663060
Prof RE Goodin (RSSS, ANU), Prof HG Brennan (RSSS, ANU)
2006 : $170,000
2007 : $180,000
2008 : $170,000
Social norms often come adrift from the reasons and values that they are supposed to serve. Strengthening AustraliaÕa social and economic fabric (a National Research Priority) requires understanding how norms work and revising them in changing circumstances. This project explores such ideas in relation to crucial issues Ð democracy, terrorism (another NRP), historical injustice and sexuality Ð and interjects practical suggestions into the public debate over how norms ought be revised. It also furthers Australia's world standing in political science and philosophy and, by enlisting international scholars to help explore these issues, focuses the intellectual firepower of the world on problems of national importance to Australia.
Belief singular versus beliefs plural
DP0663049
Prof FC Jackson (RSSS, ANU), Dr D Braddon-Mitchell (Sydney); Prof PR Godfrey-Smith (Princeton)
2006 : $60,000
2007 : $35,000
2008 : $35,000
2009 : $55,000
2010 : $25,000
Research on the brain and how it represents the environment has the potential to reconfigure our ordinary conceptions of belief and rationality. This project explores the impact of the changes and their implications.
Conscious Experience and the Hegemony of Representation
DP0664145
Dr D Stoljar (RSSS, ANU), Prof FC Jackson (RSSS, ANU)
2006 : $80,000
2007 : $80,000
2008 : $90,000
Many things make humans special but three stand out: the possession of a moral sense, rationality, and consciousness. This project aims to explain consciousness in a way fully compatible with the aspirations of cognitive science to see humans as a natural part of the physical world.