Neuroscience, Film, and Philosophy

3 credits · Undergraduate

Advances in neuroscience are forcing us to confront anew questions concerning the nature of identity, reality, morality, and free will. Scientists can now implant artificial memories, augment natural brain capabilities, and read out intentions from the brain before they are acted upon. This class intends to shine a light on the brave new world enabled by modern neuroscience through three lenses: science, film, and philosophy. Topics to be covered include: the architecture of the brain, AI & the mind body problem, the neural construction of reality, action and free will, memory, the neural basis of morality, mechanisms for brain wiring, mental illness, and brain machine interfaces.