Thor Grünbaum

Primary fields of research

Head of the Cognition, Intention, and Action Group (CoInAct)

CoInAct is an interdisciplinary research group, performing experimental and theoretical research within cognitive neuroscience, cognitive psychology and philosophy of mind and action: https://psychology.ku.dk/coinact/

My research is focused on a number of issues in philosophy of action (mind), philosophy of psychology, and philosophy of science.

• Philosophy of action/mind: Agent’s knowledge, intentions, control of action, sense of agency
• Philosophy of psychology/cognitive neuroscience: Relation between common-sense psychology and scientific psychology, individuation of computational mechanisms, perception-action models
• Philosophy of science: Model testing, under-determination problems in cognitive neuroscience, mechanistic explanation.

Selected Publications (for a full list)

Philosophy of action and mind:

• Grünbaum, T. (2013). Seeing what I am doing. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 86(2), 295-318.
• Grünbaum, T. (2012). First-Person and Minimal Self-Consciousness. In S. Miguens, & G. Preyer (Eds.), Consciousness and Subjectivity. (pp. 297-320). Heusenstamm: Ontos Verlag.
• Grünbaum, T. (2011). Perception and non-inferential knowledge of action. Philosophical Explorations, 14(2), 153-167.
• Grünbaum, T. (2009). Anscombe and Practical Knowledge of What is Happening. Grazer Philosophische Studien, 78, 41-67.
• Grünbaum, T. (2008). Trying and the Arguments from Total Failure. Philosophia, 36(1), 67-86.

Philosophy of psychology/cognitive neuroscience:

• Grünbaum, T. (2018). The Two Visual Systems Hypothesis and Contrastive Underdetermination. Synthese. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-018-01984-y
• Grünbaum, T. (2017). The Perception-Action Model: Counting Computational Mechanisms. Mind & Language, 32(4), 416-445.
• Grünbaum, T. (2015). The feeling of agency hypothesis: a critique. Synthese, 192(10), 3313-3337.
• Grünbaum, T. (2012). Commonsense psychology, dual visual streams, and the individuation of action. Philosophical Psychology, 25(1), 25-47.

Experimental and theoretical work in cognitive psychology/neuroscience:

• Christensen, M. S., & Grünbaum, T. (2018). Sense of agency for movements. Consciousness and Cognition, 65, 27-47.
• Christiansen, J. H., Christensen, J. H., Grünbaum, T., & Kyllingsbæk, S. (2014). A Common Representation of Spatial Features Drives Action and Perception: Grasping and Judging Object Features within Trials. PloS one, 9(5), 1-14. [e94744].
• Overgaard, M., & Grünbaum, T. (2012). Cognitive and non-cognitive conceptions of consciousness. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 16(3), 137-137.
• Overgaard, M., & Grünbaum, T. (2011). Consciousness and modality: On the possible preserved visual consciousness in blindsight subjects. Consciousness and Cognition, (20), 1855–1859.

Major Research Grants

• DFF 2016-2021: PI on collaborative research project (DKK 5,670,757): "Intention, Selection, and Agency" (with Professor of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, Søren Kyllingsbæk)
• DFF 2012-2015: Co-PI on collaborative research project (DKK 6,254,816): “Phenomenal Consciousness and Cognitive Motor Control” (with Associate Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience, Aarhus University, Morten Overgaard (PI)).
• DFF 2010-2014: Co-PI on collaborative research project (DKK 7,783,200): “Intentional action, attention to objects, and working memory” (with Associate Professor of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, Søren Kyllingsbæk (PI)).

Service to profession

• Associate Editor of Philosophical Explorations (2015-)
• Referee for public and private research foundations: European Research Council, The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research, The Welcome Foundation
• Ad hoc reviewer: Mind, Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, Australasian Journal of Philosophy, Philosophical Studies, Synthese, Philosophical Quarterly, Mind & Language, Philosophical Psychology
• President of Danish Society for Philosophy and Psychology (2009-)

Teaching and supervision

I teach and supervise in most areas of theoretical philosophy: philosophy of mind, philosophy of science, epistemology, metaphysics, and philosophy of language. Students are more than welcome to contact me if they want to know more or to discuss ideas or questions about their thesis.

Office hours: Monday to Friday (I'm often in my office, just drop by or send me an email first).

I also teach and supervise MA theses in our cognitive science programme.

Recently taught courses:

Philosophy:

MA-level

• Science and Society, Fall 2018: Course Schedule.
• Confirmation Theory and Hypothesis Testing, Spring 2016: Course Schedule.
• Philosophy of Action, Spring 2015: Course Schedule.
• Philosophy of Psychology, Fall 2014: Course Schedule.

BA-level

• Bevidsthedsfilosofi (Philosophy of Mind), Fall 2016: Course Schedule.

Cognitive Science:

MA-level

• Introduction to Cognitive Science, Fall 2018: Course Schedule.
• Empirical Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience, and Communication, Spring 2018: Course Schedule.
• Social Cognition, Fall 2017: Course Schedule.

CV

Education

• BA, Cand.Mag. University of Copenhagen
• 2006: PhD in Philosophy, University of Copenhagen (supervisor: Dan Zahavi, committee: Bill Brewer, Finn Collin, Søren Harnow Klausen)

Employment

• 2006-2007: Postdoctoral research fellow, Clare Hall College, University of Cambridge (postdoctoral supervisor: Jane Heal) (12 months)
• 2007-2009: Postdoctoral research fellow, Danish National Research Foundation: Center for Subjectivity Research & Philosophy Section, MEF, University of Copenhagen
• 2009 to 2013: Assistant Professor, Philosophy Section, Department of Media, Cognition, and Communication (MEF), University of Copenhagen
• 2013 to present: Associate Professor, Philosophy Section, Department of Media, Cognition, and Communication (MEF), University of Copenhagen

Research Grants

• 2006: Carlsberg Clare Hall Fellowship (DKK 204.727). Project:"Feelings for Fictions"
• 2007: Carlsberg two-years postdoctoral research grant (DKK 950.360). Project: "Minimal selv-bevidsthed, bevidsthedsindhold og rationalitet"
• 2010-2013: FKK three-year grant for collaborative research project with Associate Professor in Psychology Søren Kyllingsbæk (DKK 7.700.000):“Intentional action, attention to objects, and working memory”
• 2012-2015: FKK three-year grant for collaborative research project with Professor Morten Overgaard (Aarhus University) and Ass. Professor Mark Schram Christensen (University of Copenhagen) (DKK 6.254.816): "Phenomenal consciousness and motor control"
• DFF 2016-2020: PI on collaborative research project (DKK 5,670,757): "Intention, Selection, and Agency" (with Professor of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, Søren Kyllingsbæk)

Research stays

• 2004-2005: University of Warwick, Department of Philosophy (host: Professor Naomi Eilan, part of AHRB Research Project on Consciousness and Self-Consciousness)
• Oct-Nov 2008: University of Edinburgh (Host: Professor Andy Clark, part of ESF funded research project CNCC)
• May 2011: Aarhus University, Cognitive Neuroscience Research Unit (Host: Professor Morten Overgaard, part of FKK-project "Intentional action, attention to objects, and working memory")
• May 2012: Ruhr-University Bochum, Fellow at Centre for Mind, Brain and Cognitive Evolution (Host: Professor Albert Newen)
• August 2012-July 2013: University of London, Institute of Philosophy (Host: Professor Barry C. Smith)
• November 2013: Aarhus University, Cognitive Neuroscience Research Unit (Host: Professor Morten Overgaard, part of FKK-project "Phenomenal Consciousness and Cognitive Motor Control")
• March 2019: Australia National University, School of Philosophy (Host: Assoc/Prof Colin Klein)
• April 2019: University of Tübingen, Chair in Philosophy of Mind and Cognitive Science (Host: Prof Hong Yu Wong)

Knowledge of languages

Languages:

• Spoken: Danish, English, French
• Written: Danish, English
• Read: Danish, English, French, German