Fabrice Clément
Full Professor
University of Neuchatel
Cognitive Science Center
Espace Agassiz 1
CH- 2000 Neuchatel
fabrice.clement AT unine.ch


The scope of Fabrice Clément research can be delimitated by an interdisciplinary triangle linking social sciences, philosophy and cognitive sciences. His central focus is the phenomenon of BELIEF: what is a belief? How are beliefs transmitted? Why do we believe so easily in certain kinds of representation and not in others? How is credulity possible? What has consciousness to do with acquisition of beliefs? What is the role of emotions in belief assessment? Whom do we decide to trust? How is the ‘taken for granted’ of a social group transmitted during socialization?

In order to bring some light on these topics, Fabrice Clément resorts to philosophy of mind to specify the nature of belief, to psychology (cognitive, social and developmental) to analyze its representational and dynamic components, and to social sciences to study the mechanisms responsible for the widespread diffusion of certain beliefs in different social settings.