Undergraduate Course: Theories of Mind (Level 10) (INFR10006)
Course Outline
| School | School of Informatics |
College | College of Science and Engineering |
| Course type | Standard |
Availability | Available to all students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Credits | 10 |
| Home subject area | Informatics |
Other subject area | None |
| Course website |
http://www.inf.ed.ac.uk/teaching/courses/tm |
Taught in Gaelic? | No |
| Course description | The goal of the course is to explore some of the conceptual issues basic to Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Science as theoretical approaches to the mind. Two key features that are traditionally used to distinguish minds from non-mental systems are consciousness and representational content. These two features will be examined from the perspective of computational and physicalistic approaches to the mind. The general format will be to read and discuss selected influential papers in the field. |
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | Students MUST NOT also be taking
Theories of Mind (Level 11) (INFR11013)
|
Other requirements | For Informatics students, successful completion of Year 3 of an Informatics Single or Combined Honours Degree, or equivalent by permission of the School. For Philosophy students, successful completion of Year 2 of a Philosophy Single or Combined Degree, or equivalent by permission of the School. |
| Additional Costs | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus? | No |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
1 - Discuss competing metaphysical frameworks such as dualism, idealism and physicalism.
2 - Discuss basic aspects of the computational paradigm and its ability to cope with central problems in the theory of mind.
3 - Discuss issues concerning the mind's place in the natural world, including reductionism, eliminativism, nonreductive materialism, and instrumentalism.
4 - Discuss connections between psychological states and natural language semantics, and the allied topics of wide versus narrow supervenience base.
5 - Demonstrate an understanding of these and related issues through written work that emphasizes conceptual analysis and the evaluation of arguments and abstract theoretical claims. |
Assessment Information
Written Examination 80
Assessed Assignments 20
Oral Presentations 0
Assessment
Writing assignment consisting of two 1500 word essays, each worth 10 percent of the mark, where these are designed to prepare students for the type of question to be posed in the Written Examination.
If delivered in semester 1, this course will have an option for semester 1 only visiting undergraduate students, providing assessment prior to the end of the calendar year. |
Special Arrangements
| None |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
Not entered |
| Syllabus |
* The course will first focus on the topic of representation and mental content, and will discuss issues such as the Turing test, Searle's Chinese Room Argument and the attendant symbol grounding problem, Fodor's Language of Thought hypothesis, intentional explanation and the `folk psychology' debate, narrow versus wide mental content.
* The course will then explore the problem of consciousness and focus on issues concerning functionalism and computationalism, inverted spectra, physicalism and neural correlates of consciousness, the explanatory gap and the 'Hard Problem' of consciousness, dualism and epiphenomenalism.
* Finally the course will look at competing 'paradigms' within Cognitive Science and AI, including classical symbol manipulation, connectionism, dynamical systems and behavior based robotics.
Relevant QAA Computing Curriculum Sections: Artificial Intelligence |
| Transferable skills |
Not entered |
| Reading list |
* Lycan, W. Mind and Cognition, Second Edition, Blackwell Publishers, 1999.
* Haugeland, J. Mind Design II, MIT Press, 1999.
* Harnish, R. Minds, Brains, Computers, Blackwell Publishers, 2002.
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| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
Lectures 20
Tutorials 0
Timetabled Laboratories 0
Non-timetabled assessed assignments 30
Private Study/Other 50
Total 100 |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Paul Schweizer
Tel: (0131 6)50 2704
Email: paul@inf.ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Kate Weston
Tel: (0131 6)50 2701
Email: Kate.Weston@ed.ac.uk |
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