Cogito, ergo sum: many scholars believe Descartes ‘invented’ the idea of consciousness. Earlier thinkers such as Plato and Aristotle lacked the requisite word and therefore lacked the concept ––or so it is argued. This project challenges this outlook and reveals the richness of ancient theories of consciousness. Although the ancients did understand consciousness differently, the notion was fundamental to core areas of their philosophy: they saw it as definitive of life and key to self-realisation and fulfilment. Uncovering the role of consciousness in ancient philosophers’ thought, this research enables us to reappreciate their views and recognise their renewed relevance today.

This project studies the impact of two critical life events – job loss and union dissolution – on the life trajectories of adults and their children. We distinguish between two pathways through which these events may produce an accumulation of inequality over the life course: risk and vulnerability. Risk refers to social gradients in the likelihood of experiencing these events, whereas vulnerability refers to social gradients in the impact of these events on economic and noneconomic outcomes. Our main objectives are to understand (1) how job loss and union dissolution contribute to the accumulation of (dis)advantage over the life course; (2) what mechanisms explain the (unequal) impact of these events; and (3) which work and family policies are effective in targeting these mechanisms in order to reduce inequality. Consistent with the aims of the DIAL call, the proposed research will shed light on the causal links between critical life events and the dynamics of inequality. It will also inform policies that promote the life chances and well-being of disadvantaged groups in society. Work will be conducted within five research groups, all of which will apply comparable designs to the analysis of survey data and register data in five countries: Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Our data will link adults to their children. We will create academic and policy impact by ongoing dissemination through journal articles, a special issue, conference presentations, and outreach activities to national and European policymakers and other stakeholders.

The Industrial Revolution of the 18th century is arguably the most important turning point in world history. For the first time in history the standard of living for the general population started to grow consistently. However, recent research studying patterns of per capita GDP between 1300 and 1900 has shown that in Holland and Britain the classic period of the Industrial Revolution was preceded by an earlier growth spurt. Between 1300 and 1700, levels of per capita GDP had already doubled. According to economic theory this phase of pre-industrial growth should have been driven by the accumulation of physical capital, creating the foundations for technological change. The proposed project provides annual estimates of capital formation and the stock of physical capital in Britain during the period 1270-1870 and in Holland during the period 1500-1870, using the Perpetual Inventory Method. The capital stock data are combined with estimates of per capita GDP, human capital, and labour input to provide growth accounts for both countries over the very long run. These data and their analysis will underpin a new understanding of the conditions underpinning the Industrial Revolution.

Our senses are constantly bombarded with information. While sensory events seldom repeat in the exact same form, spatiotemporal relations between them are often predictable. Extracting predictive relationships (or regularities) from past experiences and utilizing them to form perceptual predictions is key to adaptive behavior. Previous work has reported mixed results on how these predictions modulate sensory processes, which led to distinct theories of perception. To reconcile these inconsistent findings, I propose a unifying framework with the following key proposition: predictions modulate sensory processing differently depending on their information value. I will test this framework in two studies using a novel experimental task and magnetoencephalography (MEG) recordings. I will first test whether, as the information value of the predictive relationship changes from learning to utilization, predictions have different impacts on sensory processing at the neural level (Study 1). I will then experimentally shift information value of the predictive relationships, and examine whether such shifts moderate the neural effects of prediction on sensory processing (Study 2). Together, the proposed research will provide novel empirical evidence to understand how the human brain exploits perceptual predictions, and a new theoretical perspective unifying current theories of perception.

Imitating seems easy, just smile when someone smiles at you, but is hard to explain. How can I make my action, which I feel but don’t see, similar to yours, which I see but don’t feel? Two types of opposing theories attempt to explain the mechanism underlying imitation: transformational and associative. Despite ample empirical behavioural and neurophysiological support for the associative theory, some key findings seem congruent with the transformational account and seem to contradict the associative account. As a result, the associative theory faces two challenges. Can the associative account explain imitation 1) when the agent seems to know her action is similar to the action of another person (similarity challenge), and 2) when there has been little or no opportunity for visuomotor learning (novelty challenge)? This project addresses the novelty and similarity challenges in four independent studies, involving infants and adults, with each study directly contrasting hypotheses derived from associative and transformational accounts of imitation. The project outcomes will not only help us to understand how imitation is accomplished, but will also provide novel insights into various other domains, such as language learning, development, social bonding, and action recognition, as each of these competences builds on imitative abilities.