#IDIBELLseminars: Do we control what we think? Biases and prejudices of the habitual self

Implicit biases are unconscious attitudes we have toward members of social groups based on their race, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, or religion. These biases differ considerably from the very idea we have of ourselves and from our explicit opinions about these groups. What does neuroscience tell us about this phenomenon? What about philosophy? Are we responsible for the socially discriminatory and prejudicial actions that these implicit biases trigger beyond our conscious control?

I am an ICREA Research Professor at the University of Barcelona. Before joining ICREA in 2009, I worked in the School of Cognitive and Computing Sciences at the University of Sussex, at Washington University in St. Louis, at the University of Indiana, Bloomington, and at the University of Edinburgh.
My goal in philosophy is to explore the nature of the mind within a naturalistic framework. What is most distinctive of my research is my ongoing effort to respect scientific findings about mental phenomena while insisting on the critical importance of the theoretical tools provided by analytic philosophy. My current research focuses on central topics in the philosophy of mind and the philosophy of cognitive science, with a special emphasis on implicit attitudes.