UNESCO World Philosophy Day (Laurie Paul, Yale University)

This year, we welcome as 2026 UNESCO World Philosophy Day lecture speaker Laurie Paul, the Millstone Family Professor of Philosophy and Cognitive Science Yale University. She explores relationships between the nature of the self, transformative experience, preference change, subjective value, temporal experience, causation, time, and perception.

Talk Title

The paradox of transformation

Talk Abstract

Transformative changes happen. They can be chosen or unchosen, wanted or unwanted, good or bad. They can occur as part of ordinary life transitions, as when one graduates from college, becomes a parent, marries, emigrates, or divorces, and they can occur in extraordinary circumstances, such as when one experiences a war, a serious physical accident, an invasive neurosurgical procedure, or cognitive change due to Alzheimer’s. I will develop a conceptual framework that characterizes the profound and paradoxical nature of the epistemic and personal transformation that transformative experience can bring, and explore some of the formal implications for models of decision and change.