Short Bio
Leon is interested in socio-epistemic processes such as the spread of beliefs, communication and collective decision-making. His PhD project (supervised by Stephan Hartmann and Alex Reutlinger) analyzes how worrisome social phenomena at the collective level (e.g. belief polarization or echo chambers) can emerge through deliberation between (boundedly) rational agents. To this end, he often works with agent-based simulations, using tools from Bayesian epistemology, game theory and social choice theory.
Recent Activity
2026-10-28 : Leon Assaad joined our team
2026-07-09 : Visits by Leon Assad, Luca Redondi and Matteo Michelini: Talks, Boardgaming and Pizzas
2026-07-08 : Leon Assad on “What do you mean by likely?”
Publications
2026
- Assaad, Leon (2026). How Ambiguous Testimony Can Derail Group Deliberation. Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, v. 48.
- Assaad, Leon (2026). Conference Report: The Fifth International Conference of the German Society for Philosophy of Science (GWP. 2025), 24–26 March, 2025. KRITERION—Journal of Philosophy, v. 40, pp. 131—134.
2025
- Assaad, Leon (2025). Multi-Option Polarization: How Deliberating More Options Both Increases and Decreases Polarization. Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, v. 47.
- Assaad, Leon (2025). Why Models of Scientific Communication Disagree. Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, v. 47.
- Assaad, Leon and Fuchs, Rafael and Phillips, Kirsty and Schöppl, Klee and Hahn, Ulrike (2025). Capturing Argument in Agent-Based Models: L. *Assaad et al.*. Topoi, v. 44, pp. 675—693.
- Hahn, Ulrike and Assaad, Leon and Schöppl, Klee (2025). Flooding the zone: an agent-based exploration. Proceedings of the annual meeting of the cognitive science society, v. 47.
2024
- Assaad, Leon and Hahn, Ulrike (2024). Rational Polarization: Sharing Only One’s Best Evidence Can Lead to Group Polarization. Proceedings of the annual meeting of the cognitive science society, v. 46.
- Hahn, Ulrike and Assaad, Leon and Burton, Jason W (2024). Opinion averaging versus argument exchange. Proceedings of the annual meeting of the cognitive science society, v. 46.
2021
- Assaad, Leon (2021). The Structural Evolution of Cooperation: Can Evolutionary Game Theory Teach Us About Morality?. Rerum Causae, v. 12.
2026
- Assaad, Leon (2026). How Ambiguous Testimony Can Derail Group Deliberation. Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, v. 48.
- Assaad, Leon (2026). Conference Report: The Fifth International Conference of the German Society for Philosophy of Science (GWP. 2025), 24–26 March, 2025. KRITERION—Journal of Philosophy, v. 40, pp. 131—134.
2025
- Assaad, Leon (2025). Multi-Option Polarization: How Deliberating More Options Both Increases and Decreases Polarization. Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, v. 47.
- Assaad, Leon (2025). Why Models of Scientific Communication Disagree. Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, v. 47.
- Assaad, Leon and Fuchs, Rafael and Phillips, Kirsty and Schöppl, Klee and Hahn, Ulrike (2025). Capturing Argument in Agent-Based Models: L. *Assaad et al.*. Topoi, v. 44, pp. 675—693.
- Hahn, Ulrike and Assaad, Leon and Schöppl, Klee (2025). Flooding the zone: an agent-based exploration. Proceedings of the annual meeting of the cognitive science society, v. 47.
2024
- Assaad, Leon and Hahn, Ulrike (2024). Rational Polarization: Sharing Only One’s Best Evidence Can Lead to Group Polarization. Proceedings of the annual meeting of the cognitive science society, v. 46.
- Hahn, Ulrike and Assaad, Leon and Burton, Jason W (2024). Opinion averaging versus argument exchange. Proceedings of the annual meeting of the cognitive science society, v. 46.
2021
- Assaad, Leon (2021). The Structural Evolution of Cooperation: Can Evolutionary Game Theory Teach Us About Morality?. Rerum Causae, v. 12.