The course of Philosophy of Mind is part of the program in Cognitive Sciences of Communication and Action (master level) and is included among the characterizing training activities. The course will introduce some central topics in empirically informed philosophy of mind including the functionalist view of the mind, the nature of mental representations, the mechanistic approach to cognitive neuroscience, the naturalization of consciousness and self-consciousness, the possibility of a clinical cognitive neuroscience.
Upon completion of the course students
- will have gained familiarity with some of the most important issues in the philosophy of mind driven by cognitive sciences;
- will be able to critically evaluate different positions on core themes of the course;
- will develop a critical thought on philosophical matters involving the mind, and the ability to build rigorous, clear arguments using an appropriate scientific and philosophical vocabulary.
Upon completion of the course students
- will have gained familiarity with some of the most important issues in the philosophy of mind driven by cognitive sciences;
- will be able to critically evaluate different positions on core themes of the course;
- will develop a critical thought on philosophical matters involving the mind, and the ability to build rigorous, clear arguments using an appropriate scientific and philosophical vocabulary.
teacher profile teaching materials
P. Fonagy, G. Gergely, E. Jurist, and M. Target, Affect Regulation, Mentalization, and the Development of the Self, Other Press, London 2002.
Programme
This course will provide students with an introduction to some of the main topics in philosophy of mind. In particular, we will examine computational functionalism, the view that the mind is a physical and naturally evolved computational device.Core Documentation
J.L. Bermúdez, Cognitive Science. An Introduction to the Science of the Mind, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2019 (3rd edition).P. Fonagy, G. Gergely, E. Jurist, and M. Target, Affect Regulation, Mentalization, and the Development of the Self, Other Press, London 2002.
Type of evaluation
Verification of learning takes place through (1) an oral exam; (2) the preparation of a 3,000-word final paper (in Italian or English) to be discussed in the exam. Students are required to get their paper topics approved by the instructor. Your final grade in the course will be determined as follows: 50% oral exam; 50% final paper.