THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2014/2015
- ARCHIVE as at 1 September 2014

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences : Philosophy

Postgraduate Course: Philosophy of Mind and Cognitive Science (Online) (PHIL11130)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences CollegeCollege of Humanities and Social Science
Course typeOnline Distance Learning AvailabilityNot available to visiting students
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) Credits20
Home subject areaPhilosophy Other subject areaNone
Course website Please see Learn page Taught in Gaelic?No
Course descriptionThis course is aimed at offering an overview of a selection of core topics in the philosophy of mind and cognitive science, such as psychological explanation, the nature of conscious experience, the
place of mental states in the causal structure of the world, and the commitments of folk psychology.

Formative feedback available:
- students can submit a formative essay by the closing deadline.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Additional Costs None
Course Delivery Information
Delivery period: 2014/15 Semester 1, Not available to visiting students (SS1) Learn enabled:  Yes Quota:  None
Web Timetable Web Timetable
Class Delivery Information This course is only for MSc/Dip/Cert Epistemology, Ethics and Mind students.
Course Start Date 15/09/2014
Breakdown of Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Online Activities 20, Revision Session Hours 2, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 164 )
Additional Notes
Breakdown of Assessment Methods (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 85 %, Practical Exam 15 %
No Exam Information
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
Students will gain knowledge of some of the key issues in contemporary philosophy of mind and cognitive science. They will also develop their skills in critical thinking and in the oral and written presentation of philosophical arguments.
Assessment Information
Students will be assessed by a 2500 word essay at the end of the semester (85%) and successful participation in the on-line activities associated with the course (15%).

Essay deadline: Monday 15th December 2014 by 12 noon
Word limit: 2500 words maximum
Return deadline: Friday 16th January 2015
Special Arrangements
None
Additional Information
Academic description Not entered
Syllabus Provisional syllabus for 14/15:

Week 1: Introduction and functionalism - Synchronous seminar
Week 2: Non-reductive materialism - Synchronous seminar
Week 3: Eliminative materialism - Asynchronous forum seminar
Week 4: Mechanistic explanation - Synchronous seminar
Week 5: The language of thought hypothesis - Asynchronous forum seminar
Week 6: Tacit theories - Synchronous seminar
Week 7: The extended mind - Asynchronous forum seminar
Week 8: The modular mind - Synchronous seminar
Week 9: The embodied mind - Asynchronous forum seminar
Week 10: Against the computational mind - Synchronous seminar
Week 11: Review - Asynchronous forum seminar

This may be subject to change; the final syllabus will be posted on Learn when the course commences in September.
Transferable skills Not entered
Reading list WEEK 1:
Class Readings
D.C. Dennett 'Personal and sub-personal levels of explanation.' reprinted in J. Bermudez (Ed) Philosophy of Psychology: contemporary readings (Routledge 2006). Available as an Ebook.

WEEK 2:
Class Readings
L. Anthony (2007) Everybody has got it: a defence of non-reductive materialism. In B. McLaughlin & J. Cohen (Eds.) Contemporary Debates in Philosophy of Mind. (160 - 181) Blackwells.

WEEK 3:
Class Readings
Paul Churchland, (1981) Eliminative materialism and the propositional attitudes. Journal of Philosophy, 78, 67 - 90

WEEK 4:
Class Readings
P. Machamer, L. Darden & C. Craver 'Thinking about mechanisms.' Philosophy of Science, 67 (2000), 1-25.

WEEK 5:
Class Readings
Fodor, J. (1987). Mental Representation: an introduction. In N. Rescher, Scientific Enquiry in Philosophical Perspective (pp. 105 - 128). University Press of America.
Fodor, J. (1987). Psychosemantics. (Appendix). MIT Press

WEEK 6:
Class Readings
Fodor, J. (1968) The appeal to tacit knowledge in psychological explanation. The Journal of Philosophy, 65 627 - 640.
Stich, S. (1978). Beliefs and subdoxastic states. Philosophy of Science, 45, 499 - 518

WEEK 7:
Class Readings
A. Clark & D. Chalmers (1998) The Extended Mind. Analysis 58 . 10-23:
Mark Sprevak (2009) 'Extended Cognition and Functionalism.' Journal of Philosophy 106. 503-27

WEEK 8:
Class Readings
Carruthers, P. (2004). The mind is a system of modules shaped by natural selection. In C. Hitchcock (Ed.), Contemporary Debates in Philosophy of Science (pp. 293 - 311). Blackwell.
Cowie, F., & Woodward, J. (2004). The mind is not (just) a system of modules shaped (just) by natural selection. In C. Hitchcock (Ed.), Contemporary Debates in Philosophy of Science (pp. 312 - 334). Blackwell.

WEEK 9:
Class Readings
Shapiro, L. (2011) Embodied Cognition. (Chapters 2 & 3) Routledge.

WEEK 10
Class Readings
Van Gelder, T. (1995) What might cognition be if not computation? Journal of Philosophy 92, 345-81
Grush, R. (2003) In Defence of Some Cartesian Assumptions Concerning the Brain and its Operations Biology and Philosophy 18, 53 - 93

The full reading list available for the course list can be found on Learn.
Study Abroad Not entered
Study Pattern Not entered
KeywordsNot entered
Contacts
Course organiserDr Suilin Lavelle
Tel: (0131 6)50 3665
Email: J.S.Lavelle@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMiss Lynsey Buchanan
Tel: (0131 6)51 5002
Email: Lynsey.Buchanan@ed.ac.uk
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