Insincerity for Fragmented Minds
A research project on insincere speech, inner speech, and self-deception
The InFraMinds Project is generously funded by the Icelandic Research Fund and the Ad Astra Programme at University College Dublin. The project brings together scientists and research students from more than a dozen institutions to work on fundamental questions about mental and linguistic representation, especially the nature of insincerity, self-directed speech, and self-deception. Elmar Unnsteinsson (UCD and U of Iceland) is the Principal Investigator and Daniel W. Harris (CUNY Hunter College) is a Co-Proposer. The project runs from 2020 to 2025.
Challenge 1
How do we communicate mental attitudes, as opposed to the propositional contents of those attitudes?
Challenge 2
What is the nature and function of self-directed speech?
Challenge 3
Are we normally unaware that we are being insincere when we speak insincerely? Just like we are unaware in self-deception?
Challenge 4
How exactly can we study phenomena like insincerity, inner speech, and self-deception scientifically?
