Research

Information on research topics
and research ressources at the LFE

Interdisciplinary Coorperation Research

Research into human cognition has established itself as an interdisciplinary field of research, and here in Leipzig, too, several research centres are contributing to the acquisition of knowledge in cognitive anthropology. Philosophy is mostly concerned analytically with concrete conceptual or methodological questions, and as philosophical anthropology it emphasizes that a holistic, non-reductive view of man is required in order to understand him as such.

Meanwhile, in our project, we are attempting to develop a differential anthropology that enables an interdisciplinary dialogue in the field of cognitive science. In doing so, we take into account the methodologically justified reductionism of the individual sciences and develop a concept that, despite these reductionisms, makes it possible to work productively on a common concern within cognitive research in an interdisciplinary manner. Specifically, we bring Michael Tomasello’s theses on “Why we cooperate” into a dialogue with Aristotle’s central psychological theses on human sociality. The aim is to support the question of Tomasello – in an Aristotelian way of reading – as a central question in cognitive anthropology.