This past week, Beloit hosted the 2025 Crom Visiting Philosopher. Mark Johnson, a professor of Philosophy at the University of Oregon, where he is the Philip H. Knight Chair of Liberal Arts and Sciences specializes in cognitive science, more specifically embodied metaphor and cognition.
The Crom Visiting Philosopher is one of eight residences that Beloit College hosts every year, with a focus on different departments in each one. Named after late Professor of Philosophy Scott Crom, The Crom Visiting Philosopher program itself was started in 2010, made possible by donations from alumni John Selzer’77 and Roy J. Schneiderman’77.
Over the course of two days, Mark Johnson visited eight classes, ranging from cognitive science to political science. On Tuesday, Nov. 11, Johnson gave a presentation entitled “Embodied Mind, Meaning, and Thought,” where he presented his research to a crowd of students, faculty, and community members. His main point was that there is no “you” without your brain, your body, and an environment that your body interacts with. He also explained how people experience different areas of cognition from a young age, using videos of his granddaughter to illustrate his point.
Johnson’s presentation was followed by a Q&A where students and faculty asked questions about many aspects of Johnson’s work. One audience member asked whether the process of cognition changed with tools, which Johnson confirmed, saying that over time, with new technologies, cognition does change. Another audience member asked Johnson to respond to the theory that cognition can be reduced to electricity firing in the brain. Johnson answered by saying that cognition is more than just synapses firing in the brain, because cognition requires a brain, a partially functioning body, and an environment to interact with, which is the most key component.
Cognitive Science professor Robin Zebrowski, who organized this year’s event, highlighted the importance of each residency, saying that “they’re important infrastructure for delivering information and experience to our students here, and I don’t think there’s anything that can replace them.” Philosophy professor Matt Tedesco echoed this, saying that “Beloit is that we’re a small place that is connected with the whole world. There are so many opportunities to connect with scholars and ideas and cutting edge research that is important in knowledge generally.”
Students who attended also seemed to enjoy the presentation. “It was a wonderful time,” said CogSci Club treasurer Hanna Fassilis’27. “I’ve always resonated with Mark Johnson’s work, so it was really nice to hear a continuation of what he’s talked about in his books.” Bethany Yu’27 also had positive things to say about the talk, saying that “I think he’s clearly an expert in his field with a lot of knowledge to share with us. I think Beloit should do more things like this and more people should come to them because they’re really cool and awesome.”
The next presentation will be on climate change in the Weissberg Auditorium on Tuesday, Nov. 18.
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