Dr. Astrid Schomäcker
Dr. Astrid Schomäcker,
Geb. A2 3, Raum 0.16
E-Mail: astrid.schomaecker(at)uni-saarland.de
Tel.-Nr.: +49 (0)681 302-3332
Research Interests
My main area of research is Philosophy of Mind which I am currently broadening towards philosophy of AI and ethics of AI. Here at Saarland University I am a postdoctoral researcher in the EIS (Explainable Intelligent Systems) project which investigates how explainability of artificial intelligent systems contributes to the fulfillment of important societal desidarata like responsible decision-making or trustworthiness of AI (https://explainable-intelligent.systems). My research interests in this area include the relationship between human bias and algorithmic bias as well as the role of conceptual change in explanations. In my dissertation, I developed a reply to the Hard Problem of Consciousness which focused on conceptual change. I argued that while our current concepts might not allow for a physicalist explanation of phenomenal consciousness, a path can be shown from our current concepts to concepts that allow for such an explanation.
Employment
- Since 04/2021 Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiterin (Graduate Assistant), Saarland University, Chair for Philosophy of Mind and Cognitive Systems (Lena Kästner)
- 11/2018-04/2020 Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin (Graduate Assistant) at Universität Duisburg-Essen, Chair for Ethics and Anthropology (Neil Roughley)
- 11/2009 – 04/2013 Student assistant at Chair for Philosophy of Science und Natural Philosophy, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin
- 04/2008 – 07/2008 Student assistant at the Institute for Philosophy, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin
Education
- 10/2013 – 01/2019 Doctoral student at Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin
- 01/2015 – 05/2015 Visiting Graduate Student in Philosophy, New York University
- 10/2009 – 10/2012 Master of Arts in Philosophy at Humboldt Universität zu Berlin
- 10/2006 – 01/2010 Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy/Music and Media Sciences, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin
- 07/2008 – 02/2009 ERASMUS semester at Universidad de Granada, Spain
Publications
- 2020 Bridging the gap: How Conceptual Change can Remove the Obstacles to a Scientific Explanation of Consciousness. Berlin: Schwabe
Scientific Presentations
- 08/2017 “Finding a functional description of phenomenal consciousness: A two-fold strategy (Poster)”
Conference of the European Society for Philosophy and Psychology, Hertfordshire, UK
- 06/2017 “Two Ideas of A Priori Entailment”
Rudolf Carnap Lectures, Ruhr Universität Bochum, Germany
- 06/2016 “A Problem with Armchair Arguments against Explaining Consciousness” (Poster)
Conference of the Association of the Scientific Study of Consciousness, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- 09/2015 “Can our Phenomenal Concepts Change?” (Poster)
Conference of the Gesellschaft für Analytische Philosophie, Osnabrück, Germany
- 06/2015 “Can our Phenomenal Concepts Change?”
Towards a Science of Consciousness Conference, Helsinki, Finnland
- 05/2014 “The Role of Consciousness in the Free Will Debate”
Symposium Free Will: Philosophy meets Neuroscience, Bar-Illan, Israel
- 08/2014 “Conceptual Change and the Explanatory Gap”
Humboldt-Princeton Graduate Conference, Berlin, Germany
Teaching
- 04/2019 – 07/2019 Seminar “Willensfreiheit”
- 10/2014 – 01/2015 Graduate seminar (HS) “Concepts”
- 04/2008 – 07/2008 Tutorial “Theoretical Philosophy”
Scholarships and Awards
- 06/2016 Poster price, Conference of the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness
- 02/2014 – 09/2016 PhD scholarship by Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes
- 10/2013 – 01/2014 PhD scholarship by Berlin School of Mind and Brain
- 07/2013 Price for Best Graduates of M.A. Philosophy, Institut of Philosphy, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin
- 04/2013 – 09/2013 Research Tracks Scholarship by Humboldt Universität zu Berlin
- 02/2007 – 07/2012 Scholarship for undergraduate students by Evangelisches Studienwerk Villigst e.V.
Der Header ist ein Ausschnitt von Hermann Waibels Bild "Lichtfarbe" von 1987. Wir danken Herrn Waibel für die freundliche Erlaubnis, sein Bild zu nutzen.