Philosophical Issues in Brain Science
An introduction to some central philosophical questions about the mind, specifically those intimately connected with contemporary psychology and neuroscience. Discussions focus on arguments over innate concepts; "mental images" as pictures in the head; whether color is in the mind or in the world; and whether there can be a science of consciousness. Explains the relevant parts of psychology and neuroscience as the subject proceeds.
Spring 2009
This course provides an introduction to important philosophical questions about the mind, specifically those that are intimately connected with contemporary psychology and neuroscience. Are our concepts innate or are they acquired by experience? And what does it even mean to call a concept 'innate'? Are 'mental images' pictures in the head? Is color in the mind or in the world? Is the mind nothing more than the brain? Can there be a science of consciousness? The course includes guest lectures by philosophers and cognitive scientists.
Readings
- Chomsky, Noam. “A Review of B. F. Skinner’s Verbal Behavior.” In Readings in the Psychology of Language . Edited by Leon A. Jakobovits and Murray S. Miron. Prentice Hall, 1967, pp. 142–3.
- ———. “On the Nature of Language.” In Origins and Evolution of Language and Speech. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences . Edited by S. R. Harnad, H. D. Steklis, and J. Lancaster. New York Academy of Sciences, 1976, pp. 46–57. ISBN: 9780890720264.
- ———. Reflections on Language . 1st ed. Surrey, Ashgate, 1976. ISBN: 9780851171050.
- Laurence, Stephen. “Is Linguistics a Branch of Psychology?” In Epistemology of Language . Edited by Alex Barber. Oxford University Press, 2003, pp. 69–106. ISBN: 9780199250585.
- Locke, John. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding . Edited by Peter H. Nidditch. Oxford University Press, 1979. ISBN: 9780198245957.
- Samuels, Richard. “Innateness in Cognitive Science.” TRENDS in Cognitive Sciences 8, no. 3 (2004): 136–41.
- Putnam, Hilary. “The ‘Innateness Hypothesis’ and Explanatory Models in Linguistics.” Synthese 17 (1967): 12–22.
- Leibniz, G. W. New Essays on Human Understanding . 2nd ed. Edited by Peter Remnant and Jonathan Bennett. Cambridge University Press, 1996. ISBN: 9780521576604.
- Welsh, Talia. “Do Neonates Display Innate Self-Awareness? Why Neonatal Imitation Fails to Provide Sufficient Grounds for Innate Self- and Other-Awareness.” Philosophical Psychology 19, no. 2 (2006): 221–38.
- Held, Richard. “Plasticity in Sensory-Motor Systems.” Scientific American 213, no. 5 (1965): 84–94.
- Cowie, Fiona. “The Logical Problem of Language Acquisition.” In What’s Within?: Nativism Reconsidered . Oxford University Press, 1998, pp. 205–37. ISBN: 9780195123845.
- Pinker, Stephen. “How Language Works.” In The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language . Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2000, pp. 74–118. ISBN: 9780060958336.
- Byrne, Alex. “Intentionality.” In The Philosophy of Science: An Encyclopedia . Edited by S. Sarkar and J. Pfeifer. Routledge, 2005, pp. 53–82. ISBN: 9780415939270.
- Gallagher, Shaun. “Neurons and Neonates: Reflections on the Molyneux Problem.” In How The Body Shapes The Mind . Oxford University Press, 2006. ISBN: 9780199204168.
- Searle, John R. “Perception.” In Mind: A Brief Introduction (Fundamentals of Philosophy) . Oxford University Press, 2005, pp. 259–78. ISBN: 9780195157345.
- Valberg, J. J. The Puzzle of Experience . Oxford University Press, 1992, pp. 19–47. ISBN: 9780198242918.
- Byrne, Alex. “Behaviorism.” In A Companion to the Philosophy of Mind . Edited by S. Guttenplan. Blackwell Publishers, 1996, pp. 132–40. ISBN: 9780631199960.
- Descartes, Rene. “Meditations on First Philosophy.” In Meditations on First Philosophy . Edited by John Cottingham and Bernard Williams. Cambridge University Press, 1996. ISBN: 9780521558181.
- ———. “The Passions of the Soul.” In Meditations on First Philosophy . Edited by John Cottingham and Bernard Williams. Cambridge University Press, 1996. ISBN: 9780521558181.
- Chalmers, David J. “Consciousness and Its Place in Nature.” In The Blackwell Guide to the Philosophy of Mind . Edited by Stephen P. Stich and Ted A. Warfield. Wiley-Blackwell, 2003. ISBN: 9780631217749.
- Lewis, David. “What Experience Teaches.” In Mind and Cognition: An Anthology . Edited by W. G. Lycan. Hoboken, Wiley-Blackwell, 1999. ISBN: 9780631205456.
Prerequisites & course information
Same subject as 9.48[J] Prereq: None U (Fall) 3-0-9 units. HASS-H; CI-H
Sources
- Course catalogue ↗2026–2027
- MIT OpenCourseWare ↗Spring 2009
- MIT OCW readings ↗
- MIT OCW syllabus ↗
- Historical MIT OpenCourseWare offering. Named reading entries and schedule topics are automatically extracted from the linked source pages.