Who Are We?
We are an international network of philosophers who research associationism and its history. From the British empiricist’s associationist psychology, through Freud’s method of free-association, Skinner’s behaviourism, and all the way to contemporary philosophy of social psychology, and AI, we are interested in both contemporary and historical versions of associationism in philosophy and psychology. We have Annual Meetings, which welcome papers in a variety of topics, with a bearing on associationism, including history of philosophy, cognitive sciences, behaviourism, AI, psychoanalysis, aesthetics, and philosophy of language.
Our History
After a panel titled “Associationism in Philosophy and its History” at the American Philosophical Association Eastern Division Annual Conference (Philadelphia, 2020) involving Cameron Buckner, Mike Dacey, Talia Morag, and Kathryn Tabb (organizer), Talia Morag initiated an international research network to continue the philosophical exploration of associationism, its history and recent incarnations. Michael Jacovedis then joined the network which we called the “Association Association” (credit: Mike Dacey). We meet regularly online to read historical texts and work-in-progress. Our first in-person meeting was hosted by Kathryn Tabb in NYC in 2023. Since then, we have expanded the Association membership to the point where our Annual Meetings are now full-scale conferences, with speakers from all over the world, including the US, Hungary, Australia and Canada.