Postgraduate Course: Advanced topics in Mind, Language and Embodied Cognition (PHIL11038)
Course Outline
| School | School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course aims to provide an in depth treatment of a single topic or text, usually in the broad area of the study of the embodied mind.
The teaching is seminar based, and each week students prepare by reading and commenting on set work. |
| Course description |
This course examines recent work applying considerations from evolutionary biology to problems within the cognitive sciences, especially conceptual issues concerning the origin and nature of representation, language, society, and consciousness.
|
Course Delivery Information
|
| Academic year 2019/20, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
|
Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 21,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 2,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
173 )
|
| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
One 2500 word essay (100%).
|
| Feedback |
Students have the opportunity to submit a formative essay. The essay cannot be draft of the summative essay but it can be on the same topic.
|
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- demonstrate philosophical skills, including evaluating arguments and articulating one's own critical ideas in response
- engage a single target or topic in the kind of sustained depth required for professional publication and research.
- discuss and interpret empirical work in the cognitive sciences in a philosophical manner
|
Reading List
Although specific background is not required, this is an advanced course, dealing with cutting edge research, so some familiarity with relevant background material is advised.
For relevant background in the philosophy of cognitive science, some good survey texts include:
Clark, A. (2013). Mindware: An Introduction to Cognitive Science (2nd Edition) Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Clark, A. (1997) Being There. MIT Press, London.
Crane, T. (2003). The Mechanical Mind. Routledge, London, 2nd edition.
Bechtel, W. (2008) Mental Mechanisms. Taylor & Francis, London.
Freeman, W. J. (2000) How Brains Make Up Their Minds. Columbia UP, New York.
Churchland, P. M. (2012) Plato's Camera. MIT Press, London.
For relevant background in philosophy of biology, consult:
Godfrey-Smith, P. (2014) Philosophy of Biology. Princeton UP.
Sober, E. (1999) Philosophy of Biology. 2nd ed. Perseus.
Serelny, K. and P. E. Griffiths (1999) Sex and Death. University of Chicago Press.
Dawkins, R. (1999) The Extended Phenotype. 2nd ed. Oxford UP.
Ruse, M. (ed.) (2010) The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Biology. Oxford UP.
|
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Students will learn to conduct research across disciplinary boundaries, and to present their ideas clearly to a multi-disciplinary audience.
|
| Keywords | perception,action,change-blindnes,sensorimotor contingency theory,dual visual systems hypothesis |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Alistair Isaac
Tel: (0131 6)51 5174
Email: A.M.C.Isaac@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Becky Verdon
Tel: (0131 6)50 3860
Email: Rebecca.Verdon@ed.ac.uk |
|
|
University Homepage