Philosophy of Cognitive Science

Spring 2005                                                                              T-TH    9:10-10:30 BEH S 112

                                                                                                           

 

Instructor:        Dr. Ron Mallon

                                    585-5810

                                    rmallon@philosophy.utah.edu

                                    www.hum.utah.edu/~rmallon

 

Office                    341J OSH

Hours:                  Thursday 11 AM to Noon by appt.

 

Texts:                    Reserve Readings as assigned

                                    Jerry Fodor, The Modularity of Mind

                                    Hirschfeld et al., Mapping the Mind

                                   

 

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. 

 

Course Requirements:

The course requirements are simple.  They consist in:

 

In class first test:                               30%                         Thursday March 3rd STUDY QUESTIONS

In class second test:                        30%                         Tuesday MAY 3rd 8-10 AM CHANGED!

                                                                                                                              ˆFINAL STUDY QUESTIONS                              

Class papers, work:                        30%                         SHORT PAPER 1 TOPICS

                                                                                                            SYNTAX/SEMANTICS WORKSHEET

                                                                                                            LONG PAPER SUGGESTED TOPICS

Class Participation:                         up to 10%

 

 

Topic 1: Introduction

 

 

 

I.  Introductory Reading:

 

Thursday, 13 January:

Andy Clark: "Meat Machines" from Mindware: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Cognitive Science, pp. 7-27.

                  Reserve Desk

Some concepts:

                  Physicalism/Materialism

Folk Psychology

                  A formal system

                  Identity Theory
                  Machine Functionalism

Computation

                  Turing Machine

                  Intentionality

                  Consciousness

 

HANDOUT "Logic, Computation, and Thought"

 

II.  Folk Psychology: What Can It Teach Us About the Mind?

 

Tuesday, 18 January:       

A.  Jerry Fodor and The Language of Thought

"First Approximations" (Chp. 1, The Language of Thought (1975))                          On Reserve

 

Recommended: "Propositional Attitudes" (from Representations (1981), pp. 177-203)     On Reserve

 

B.  Daniel Dennett and the Intentional Stance

                  "True Believers: The Intentional Strategy and Why it Works" Lycan 150-167      On Reserve

                  "Brain Writing and Mind Reading" Rosenthal 502                                                          On Reserve

 

C.  Paul Churchland and Eliminativism

                  "Eliminative Materialism and the Propositional Attitudes"                                            On Reserve

(1981) Journal of Philosophy.  pp. 67-90

 

SHORT PAPER 1 TOPICS

 

III.  Computation and the Mind

 

Classical View:

Haugeland: "Semantic Engines: An Introduction to Mind Design"                           On Reserve

from Mind Design II, 1997.  1-28.  

 

HANDOUT "Haugeland"

 

SYNTAX/SEMANTICS WORKSHEET

 

Connectionism and Neural Networks:

                  Sterelny: "Connectionism"                                                                                                           On Reserve

The Representational Theory of Mind (1990) 168-196

 

IV.  Modularity

 

Fodor, The Modularity of Mind  (MOM)

 

                  Part I: "Four Accounts of Mental Structure"  pp. 1-38

 

                  Part II: "A Functional Taxonomy"  pp. 38-46

 

                  Part III: "Input Systems as Modules" pp. 47-101

 

                  Part IV: "Central Systems"  pp. 101-119

                  Part V: "Caveats and Conclusions"  pp. 119-129

 

V.  Modularity and Domain Specificity: Modularity and Central Processes

              Dan Sperber, "The Modularity of Thought and the Epidemiology of Representations"  MTM 

     pp. 39-67

 

VI.  Cognitive Science of Domains

                  Theory of Mind:

                  Alan Leslie, "ToMM, ToBY, and Agency: Core architecture and domain specificity"

MTM 119-148  Powerpoint Slides

 

                  Folk Biology:

                  Frank Keil, "The birth and nurturance of concepts by domains: The origins of concepts of living

                things"  MTM 234-254  Powerpoint Slides

 

LONG PAPER SUGGESTED TOPICS

 

                  Folk Religious Beliefs:

                  Pascal Boyer, "Cognitive constraints on cultural representations: Natural ontologies and

religious ideas"  MTM 391-411

 

VII.  Evolution and Modularity

              Leda Cosmides and John Tooby, "Origins of domain specificity: The evolution of functional

organization" MTM 85-116

 

Richard C. Lewontin, "The Evoluiton of Cognition: Questions We Will Never Answer"                                     On Reserve

 

 

FINAL IS Tuesday MAY 3rd 8-10 AM CHANGED!

FINAL STUDY QUESTIONS               

 

 

Policies

Late policy:  Late work will be penalized.  If you have a planned absence or a conflict with another class, make arrangements with me in advance to avoid penalty.  If you have an unexpected emergency (e.g. the death of a loved one or a medical problem), plan to present me with documentation of it.  Unexcused late work will be penalized at the rate of 1 letter grade per week, up to a maximum of two full letter grades.

Policies:     

 

The American with Disabilities Act

The University of Utah seeks to provide equal access to its programs, services and activities for people with disabilities.  If you will need accommodations in the class, reasonable prior notice needs to be given to the Center for Disability Services, 162 Olpin Union Building, 581-5020 (V/TDD).  CDS will work with you and the instructor to make arrangements for accommodations.  All written information in this course can be made available in alternative format with prior notification to the Center for Disability Services.

 

Drop/Withdrawal Policy

Classes dropped by the 10th calendar day of the semester are deleted from students' records and no tuition is charged.  Students may withdraw from a full term course without the instructor or dean's permission until the midpoint of the semester as published on the academic calendar. To withdraw, students must log into the Campus Information System. A "W" grade will be recorded on students' academic record. Following is the link to the University's Drop/Withdrawal Policy to learn more:

http://www.sa.utah.edu/regist/calendar/datesDeadlines/spring2005.htm

 

Plagiarism

"Plagiarism" means the intentional unacknowledged use or incorporation of any other person's work in, or as a basis for, one's own work offered for academic consideration or credit for public presentation.  Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to, representing as one's own, without attribution, any individual's words, phrasing, ideas, sequence of ideas, information or any other mode or content of expression (Student Code, p. 3).

 

NOTE: New Tuition Policy

Beginning Fall 2003, undergraduate students who do not pay tuition by the due date, September 10, will have their classes cancelled and will not be able to reinstate them.  Students are responsible for paying tuition for Fall Semester by January 27, 2005.  Students who have classes deleted due to non-payment of tuition may not reinstate cancelled classes or use late add forms to add classes.

http://www.acs.utah.edu/student/tuitchgs.htm