Events

KLI Colloquia are invited research talks of about an hour followed by 30 min discussion. The talks are held in English, open to the public, and offered in hybrid format. 

 

Fall-Winter 2025-2026 KLI Colloquium Series

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5881861923?omn=85945744831
Meeting ID: 588 186 1923

 

25 Sept 2025 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET

A Dynamic Canvas Model of Butterfly and Moth Color Patterns

Richard Gawne (Nevada State Museum)

 

14 Oct 2025 (Tues) 3-4:30 PM CET

Vienna, the Laboratory of Modernity

Richard Cockett (The Economist)

 

23 Oct 2025 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET

How Darwinian is Darwinian Enough? The Case of Evolution and the Origins of Life

Ludo Schoenmakers (KLI)

 

6 Nov (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET

Common Knowledge Considered as Cause and Effect of Behavioral Modernity

Ronald Planer (University of Wollongong)

 

20 Nov (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET

Rates of Evolution, Time Scaling, and the Decoupling of Micro- and Macroevolution

Thomas Hansen (University of Oslo)

 

RESCHEDULED: 18 Dec (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET

Chance, Necessity, and the Evolution of Evolvability

Cristina Villegas (KLI)

 

8 Jan 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET

Embodied Rationality: Normative and Evolutionary Foundations

Enrico Petracca (KLI)

 

15 Jan 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET

On Experimental Models of Developmental Plasticity and Evolutionary Novelty

Patricia Beldade (Lisbon University)

 

29 Jan 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET

O Theory Where Art Thou? The Changing Role of Theory in Theoretical Biology in the 20th Century and Beyond

Jan Baedke (Ruhr University Bochum)

Event Details

Enrico Petracca
KLI Colloquia
Embodied Rationality: Normative and Evolutionary Foundations
Enrico PETRACCA (KLI)
2026-01-08 15:00 - 2026-01-08 16:30
KLI
Organized by KLI

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5881861923?omn=85945744831
Meeting ID: 588 186 1923

Topic description / abstract:

This talk will introduce a new naturalistic view of rationality called “embodied rationality”, which combines the traditional idea of bounded/ecological rationality with the cognitive-science approach of embodied cognition. Given the plurality of views within embodied cognition, four concepts of embodied rationality will be proposed, following an increasing order of embodied radicalism (i.e., increasing degree of rejection of information-processing assumptions): “embodied bounded rationality”, “somatic rationality”, “extended rationality”, and “radical embodied/enactive rationality”. The talk will focus on the normative and evolutionary foundations of these concepts, showing that the more radical the view of embodied cognition gets, the more the idea of rationality it informs needs to depart from adaptationism and embrace non-adaptationist insights. 

 

Biographical note:

Enrico Petracca joined KLI as a senior postdoc in 2023 and is now a Hans Przibram Fellow. After being trained as an economist at Bocconi University in Milan, he earned a Ph.D. in the philosophy of cognitive sciences from the University of Bologna in 2014. He then held appointments either as a postdoc or adjunct professor at the Universities of Bologna, Pisa, Neuchâtel, and at the Swiss Institute in Rome.