UE585 - Introduction to the philosophy of cognitive science

Intervenant·e·s

• Valentin Teillet [référent·e]   doctorant chargé d'enseignement, EHESS / Centre de recherches sur les arts et le langage (CRAL)

Tutorials for students enrolled in the course PHIL 101 - Introduction to philosophy of cognitive science. This course has two main objectives. First, it aims to provide a foundation in some of the major classical issues in the philosophy of cognitive science. Second, it aims to trace how cognitive science has developed since the 1950s.

I. Basic concepts and background

• Session 1: What is philosophy of cognitive science? Basic concepts and questions
• Session 2: The dark ages. Behaviorism, reductive physicalism, and the deductive-nomological model

Readings:
- Skinner 1953. Science and behavior. (Excerpts)
- Hempel 1949. “The logical analysis of behavior.” Both in Block 1981

• Session 3: The cognitive revolution. Rats, Chomsky, computers, and functionalism

Readings:
- Chomsky 1959. “Review of Skinner” (Excerpts) in Block 1981
- Putnam 1967. “Psychological predicates.”

 
II. Representational states and processes

• Session 4: The computational theory of mind. Folk psychology, computation, syntax, and levels of explanation

Readings:
- Fodor 1987. Psychosemantics. (Chapter 1)

• Session 5: Whither content? Naturalizing the content of mental states

Reading:
- Dretske 1986. “Misrepresentation”

• Session 6: Anti-individualism. Marr’s vision and computing contents

Reading:
- Burge 1986. “Individualism and psychology”

• Session 7: Connectionism. Taking the brain seriously

Reading:
- Rumelhardt 1989. “The architecture of mind: a connectivist approach”

• Session 8: Systematicity. Against connectionism: systematicity, productivity, and levels of explanation

Reading:
- Fodor & Pylyshyn 1988. “Connectivism and cognitive architecture”

 
III. Organization of mind

• Session 9: Modularity. The periphery and the center – are there any modules?

Reading:
- Fodor 1983. The modularity of mind. (Excerpts)

• Session 10: Massive modularity. Cheater-detection – are there only modules?

Reading:
- Cosmides & Tooby 1994. “Origins of domain-specificity: the evolution of functional organization.”

• Session 11: Mapping the mind/brain. The attention-network – promise and pitfalls

Reading:
- Hatfield 2000. “The brain’s ‘new’ science.”

 
IV. Explanation

• Session 12: Putting it all together. How does cognitive science explain? Mental mechanisms

Reading:
- Craver 2007. Explaining the brain. (Excerpts)

Participation: You are strongly encouraged to participate in class discussion, whether by asking deep and challenging questions, or by asking simple, clarificatory questions. You can ask questions in French at any time.