A 4-year Ph.D. Fellowship in Philosophy of Cognitive Science is available at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev as part of an ISF grant (number 350/23) on Miscomputation. A short project description is appended in the end.
The Ph.D. student’s work will be supervised by Dr. Nir Fresco, and possibly co-supervised by A. Prof. Marc Artiga (of the University of València).
The successful candidate will enrol in the Ph.D. programme at the Department of Cognitive and Brain Sciences at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.
The expected starting date is mid October 2023, or soon thereafter.
Candidates should have a Master’s degree in philosophy and preferably some prior background in psychology, computer science, or biology. Prior experience in programming is an advantage. The main selection criteria are scientific excellence, suitability for the research project, and passion for research in philosophy.
To be able to compete for a further interdisciplinary stipend candidates are encouraged to apply no later than August 20, 2023. However, applications will be considered on a rolling basis until the position is filled. It is, thus, highly recommended that interested applicants will send an expression of interest email to nfresco-at-bgu-dot-ac-dot-il to assess the initial suitability.
A complete application should consist of
(1) a cover letter describing the candidate’s background and the fit for the research project;
(2) a CV;
(3) two academic letters of reference (one of these letters should be from the MA thesis supervisor.);
(4) a short writing sample (e.g., a chapter of the Master’s thesis, a conference paper, or a published paper).
The proposed study aims to develop a thorough, systematic analysis of miscomputation, driven by a set of important and interesting questions.
(1) A system that no longer computes cannot miscompute either. But if complying with the norm f is necessary for computing—as is claimed by some mechanistic and semantic accounts, how can a system miscompute g? Can such accounts explain miscomputation qua a computational process?
(2) Given that computation and representation are very often intertwined in describing cognitive and artificial systems, should cases of misrepresentation be explained as the result of miscomputation or, rather, the other way around?
(3) Can an account of miscomputation explain the relationship between the phenomena of miscomputation and computational indeterminacy (i.e., a physical system that simultaneously computes multiple mathematical functions)?
(4) How does approximation in Bayesian cognitive science differ from, and relate to, miscomputation?
(5) Do cognitive explanations that use the notion of miscomputation assume mind-independent, or rather perspectival and pragmatic, notions of computation and representation?
(6) Is there a coherent, unified concept of ‘miscomputation’ that can justify its theoretical role in both computer science and engineering, as well as in the computational sciences of mind and brain?