Institut Jean Nicod


The Institut Jean Nicod is an interdisciplinary research center based in Paris, France. Its current director is the philosopher , preceded by famous philosopher François Recanati and Pierre Jacob. Created in 2002, its name commemorates the French philosopher, epistemologist and logician Jean Nicod. The IJN is jointly run by the Centre national de la recherche scientifique, École normale supérieure and École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, three French research and higher education institutions. Since 2007, the ENS hosts the IJN where it is affiliated with both the Département d'Etudes Cognitives, of which it is a founding member, and the Department of Philosophy.
Research carried out by its 33 permanent members has an interdisciplinary profile. In the tradition of analytic philosophy, this research center develops researches at the interface between cognitive science, social sciences and the humanities. Internally the IJN is broadly organized in three research themes: Language, Action, Perception and Self-Consciousness and Social Cognition. Apart from being a European venue for scientifically oriented analytic philosophy, it is engaged in fostering this kind of work through national and international collaborations.
As of 2016, the IJN hosts 15 Master, 60 PhD and 24 visiting students taught and supervised by its members.
The IJN was the first French institution to embrace an open access policy with respect to its scientific output, providing full free access to its publications. The IJN hosts the scholarly journal Review of Philosophy and Psychology, formerly known as European Review of Philosophy,, as well as the Jean Nicod Lectures series. Every year, the IJN website provides information on the Jean Nicod Prize, awarded by the French CNRS to a leading philosopher of mind or philosophically oriented cognitive scientist.

Notable People

Researchers based at the IJN include several internationally renowned philosophers:
Scott Atran,,, Vincent Descombes, Jon Elster, Pascal Engel,, Gloria Origgi,, François Recanati, Dan Sperber, Claudine Tiercelin.