The Parmenides Foundation scope of activity is structured in three pillars: The main pillar is Research, the complementing pillars are Education and Application.
Research
The Parmenides Center for the Study of Thinking (PCST), the Parmenides Center for Art and Science, and the Parmenides Center for the Conceptual Foundations of Science are multi-disciplinary research centers. The PCST has been established in collaboration between the Parmenides Foundation and the Human Science Center of the University of Munich. PCST is commited to advancing the scientific study of human thinking. Its research agenda combines experimental investigation, modeling and philosophical/conceptual appproaches. The Parmenides Center for Art and Science was funded in 2009 to investigate the relation between art and science. The Parmenides Center for the Conceptual Foundations of Science will be built up during 2012 an will broaden the field of activities of the foundation.
Education
In the field of education our goal is to develop programs for teaching “the art of thinking.” The focus is on providing customized education and training in strategic thinking for executives; and to foster thinking skills in pre-school children. To the latter we have initiated an early-childhood education program entitled “Learning to Think”.
Application
Rapidly increasing complexity and an accelerating pace of structural change constitute qualitatively novel challenges for which our cognitive apparatus is not well prepared. For evolutionary reasons human thinking exhibits systematic constraints when confronted with decisions in a complex environment, e.g. strategic management or political decisions. This is the rationale for “Supporting Complex Thinking” (SCT) as one of our main research themes. The SCT efforts develop methodologies for coping with cognitive constraints, especially via visualizing crucial thinking operations and their integration into complex reasoning architectures.
