20710432 - PHILOSOPHY OF MIND - LM

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.
teacher profile | teaching materials

Mutuazione: 20710432 FILOSOFIA DELLA MENTE - LM in Scienze Cognitive della Comunicazione e dell'Azione LM-92 MARRAFFA MASSIMO

Programme

Over the past several years, philosophy of science has become increasingly "local," shifting its focus from the general characteristics of scientific practice to the theories, methods, and problems of scientific disciplines. The philosophies of psychology, neuroscience, and cognitive science arise from this increased delimitation.
The mind that psychologists and neuroscientists deal with today is the daughter of the cognitive revolution and is therefore defined as a set of processes of information processing carried out in the brains of complex organisms. What makes the cognitivist investigation of the mind peculiar is its being suspended between two worlds: on the one hand, the ordinary image of ourselves as persons, that is, as subjects of conscious experiences, intentional states and deliberate action; on the other hand, the subpersonal sphere of brain events, the object of neuroscience. This course aims to introduce the reader to the cognitivist study of the mind, but always against the background of the philosophical effort to shed light on the relationships that link these different ways in which we describe ourselves.

Core Documentation

A. Kind, Philosophy of Mind: The Basics. Routledge, London 2020.
A. Clark, Mindware. An Introduction to the Philosophy of Cognitive Science. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2014 (Second Edition).

Type of delivery of the course

tradicional

Attendance

facoltative

Type of evaluation

The verification of learning will take place through an oral test.