Spring 2004 T-TH 9:10-10:30 WBB 207
Instructor: Dr. Ron Mallon
OSH
341
585-5810
www.hum.utah.edu/~rmallon
Office
Hours: Thursday 2-4 PM or by appt.
(regular
hours will be cancelled during philosophy departmental mtgs)
Texts: Mindware, by Andy Clark (MW below)
Minds,
Brains, and Computers,
ed. R. Cummins and D.D. Cummins (MBC below)
Reserve
Readings as assigned
Course
Description:
Over the last 40
years, an exciting new research paradigm arose at the intersection of
psychology, philosophy, linguistics, logic and computer science. This research paradigm consisted of a
cluster of methodological assumptions, research paradigms, and theoretical
goals, and it has been enormously productive in guiding inquiry and theory
building about the human mind.
This course
will survey a number of the theoretical debates that have arisen in the course
of the maturation of cognitive science.
While we will also survey a number of successful cognitive science
research programs, our primary emphasis will be on the philosophical assumptions
guiding such research. Included
among these is the character and relevance of mental representation and
content, what it means to compare the mind to a computer, the significance of
levels of explanation, the relationship between mind and brain, and how to
model of mentality.
Course
Requirements:
The course
requirements are simple. They
consist in:
Class papers
(2-3): 30%
Class
Participation: up
to 10%
Important Dates:
Wednesday, January 21 - last date
to drop (delete) courses
Monday, January 26 - last date to add courses (without a late fee)
Thursday, January 29 - tuition is due (if not paid students courses will be dropped)
Policies:
Plagiarism is the copying of any work without proper citation. Plagiarism is a serious offense that
will be punished. This includes
(1) the use of books or articles, (2) the use of resource materials from the
internet, (3) the use of the work of another student, and (4) the use of class
notes from this or other classes.
All work for the class should be original, and produced for the course.
Papers written for another course are not acceptable.
The Americans with Disabilities Act requires that reasonable
accommodations
be provided for students with physical, sensory, cognitive,
systemic,
learning and psychiatric disabilities. Please contact the Center
for
Disability Services (162 Union Building) if you will need any such
accommodations. http://disability.utah.edu/
Tentative Syllabus:
January 13: Introduction
Introspection
Behaviorism
Piagetian
cognitivism
Chomskyian
Cognitivism
January 15: MW, Introduction
Introspection
Propositional
attitudes
Commonsense
psychology
Materialism/monism
Mind
as reason respecting
Explaining
thought through structural features of a system
January 20: MW, Chp. 1, pp. 7-15
Functional
specification
Syntax
vs. Semantics
Logical
models and laws of reason
Turing
machine and computability
January 22: MW, Chp. 1, pp. 15- 27
Level
of analysis
ÒClassicalÓ
cognitive science
Identity
theories vs. functional theories
What
is computation? Is there a
distinct computational level of analysis?
January 27, Class CANCELLED
January 29: MBC, John Haugeland ÒSemantic Engines: An Introduction to
Mind DesignÓ 34-50
February 3rd: MW, Chp. 2
Physical
Symbol System Hypothesis
February 5th: MBC, John Searle, ÒMinds, Brains, and ProgramsÓ 140-153
Chinese
Room Argument and Replies
February 10th: MW, Chapter 3, pp.
43-61
Realism,
Instrumentalism, Eliminativism
February 12th: MBC, Jerry Fodor, ÒThe Language of Thought: First
Approximations,Ó Chp. 4, pp. 51-68
February,
17th: MBC, Paul
Churchland, ÒEliminativism and the Propositional Attitudes,Ó Chp. 33, pp. 500-512
February
19st: Reserve Readings, Daniel Dennett, ÒA Cure for the Common CodeÓ
(Library
Reserve)
February
24th-26th: MW, Chp. 4 Connectionism
March
2nd-4th: MW,
Chp. 5 Perception, Action, and the Brain ALSO:
EXAM QUESTIONS 4th MARCH
March
9: MBC, David Marr, ÒVisionÓ pp. 69-83
March
11: Midterm
March 16-18: Spring
Break!!
March 23: Cognition
In the Wild Edward Hutchins ÒThe
Implementation of Contemporary PilotageÓ (Library
Reserve)
March 25: A
Closer Look at the Brain
MBC, P.S. Churchland and T.J. Sejnowski ÒThe
Computational Brain: Anatomical and Physiological TechniquesÓ pp. 367-381
PAPER ASSIGNMENT 2: DUE APRIL 6
March 30-
April 1: MW, Chp. 6
FINAL PAPER ASSIGNMENT: DUE FRIDAY APRIL 30
April 6-8: MW, Chp. 7
April 13-15: MW, Chps. 8-9
April 20-22: MBC, Tooby and Cosmides, ÒOrigins of Domain Specificity:
The Evolution of Functional OrganizationÓpp. 523-ff.
April 27: Review.