Biology & Psychology: Life & Consciousness

The Two Cultures Institute at LUMS invites applications for "Biology & Psychology: Life & Consciousness," a three-day symposium bringing together undergraduate and graduate students from the biological and psychological sciences. sciences. Bringing together participants from both disciplines, the symposium will examine the major theoretical ideas that, over the past two centuries, have shaped biology, psychology, and the relationship between them.

The symposium starts from the argument that both disciplines, examined historically, rest on presuppositions at odds with ordinary experience and common-sense understanding. On this view, mainstream biology has resolved the living organism into genetic structures and physiological mechanisms, and in doing so has rendered the very concept of life meaningless. Psychology, for its part, has either accepted this framework uncritically, relegating consciousness to a neurochemical epiphenomenon, or countered that the biological framework is itself an arbitrary product of sociocultural construction.

Over the three days, the selected participants will engage systematically with the work of leading thinkers in both disciplines who have addressed these problems. The program aims to cultivate a basic understanding of the theoretical foundations, methodologies, and broader implications of major frameworks addressing life, consciousness, and their relationship.