I am a philosopher of mind with a specialization in cultural artifacts and media.
My research delves into how architecture, urban environments, visual media, and art influence our experiences and shape our future. This impact is best articulated through philosophy integrated with cognitive science, which views our minds as both predictive and embodied, while also acknowledging the central role of emotions and aesthetic relations.
During my philosophical work on the cognitive science of perception leading up to my PhD in 2013, I identified a research gap both in theory and in experimental cognitive studies. This concerned the essential role cultural artifacts beyond language -- such as pictures, film, and architecture -- play for cognition. Consequently, over the past decade, I've collaboratively undertaken experimental (neuro-)psychological research on film, visual art, und architecture. I believe this research impacts film- and broader media theory, sheds light on the interplay between art, aesthetics, and understanding, as well as helps us understand the profound impact architecture exerts on our lives.
Those different domains of cultural artifacts can be unified in a general theory of the mind. Yet they require also different research paradigms and have led to different kind of interdisciplinary projects. In the RESEARCH section I have therefore distinguished four areas of research: 4E PREDICTIVE MINDS | NEUROMEDIALITY | NEUROAESTHETICS | NEUROURBANISM.
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Cognitive science is an interdisciplinary endeavour that employs a multitude of methods from disciplines such as philosophy, biology, psychology, and computer science to understand the mind. Philosophy in its role as contributing to conceptual clarifaction and assessments of the explanatory scope of theories of the mind has been slightly pushed to the margins in recent years (other fields such as anthroplogy or cultural theory have almost been eradicated) and cognitive neuroscience dominates the center.
Neuroscience only captures a small part of what is explanatory relevant. Nonetheless, there is a strong need to understand the contribution of different neuro-disciplines to our best theories of how culture, design and mind interact. Some of my Research Projects could therefore also be understood as a critical look at the impact of neuroscience on the humanities such as in a philosophy of neuroaesthetics, others provide some initial assessments of emerging topics (such as neurourbanism) and introduce novel concepts (such as neuromediality).
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I consider it a central task for contemporary philosophy and cognitive science to develop a better understanding of the cultural nature of our mental states. Our designed environments and the cultural artifacts we engage with have an enormous impact on how we perceive, what we think and what we value. Cultural artifacts and urban environments connect us to our past. Contemporary art and novel technologies shape our future and the ways we will engage.
My most recent focus has been on the ultimate cultural artifact: our build environment. As member of the Interdisciplinary Forum Neurorbanism (IFNU) at Charité University Medicinc we initiated the Research Platform Neurourbanism (RPN) to conduct inter- and transdisciplinary research on effects of architecture and cities on our mental health and wellbeing.
This research has to be embedded in a more general theory of the predictive brain and 4E cognition. I try to this within the broader setting of a New Cognitive Media Theory that aims to capture how urban designs, but also images and screen-based media, smart environments and AI lock into the predictive, relational nature of our brains and minds.
The effects of design and cultural artifacts are general and all-encompassing. Artworks can be seen as a more specific kind of intervention. Here some distinct mental states come to the fore, such as wonder, intense beauty, and play.II am currently developiong a theory of Affective Aesthetic Cognitivism and aesthetic emotions. How do successful artworks engage us in affective relations that re-mediate our access to the world? How can they provide insights and transform us?
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Cognitive science is an interdisciplinary endeavour that employs a multitude of methods from disciplines such as philosophy, biology, psychology, and computer science to understand the mind. Philosophy in its role as contributing to conceptual clarifaction and assessments of the explanatory scope of theories of the mind has been slightly pushed to the margins in recent years (other fields such as anthroplogy or cultural theory have almost been eradicated) and cognitive neuroscience dominates the center.
Neuroscience only captures a small part of what is explanatory relevant. Nonetheless, there is a strong need to understand the contribution of different neuro-disciplines to our best theories of how culture, design and mind interact. Some of my Research Projects could therefore also be understood as a critical look at the impact of neuroscience on the humanities such as in a philosophy of neuroaesthetics, others provide some initial assessments of emerging topics (such as neurourbanism) and introduce novel concepts (such as neuromediality).