Catalog

Philosophical Issues in Brain Science

Linguistics and Philosophy MIT CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 5 lectures

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.

Syllabus

  1. 1 Lecture 5: Are Infants Little Scientists?
  2. 2 Lecture 8: Addressing Molyneux's Query
  3. 3 Lecture 12: The Imagery Debate: The Role of the Brain
  4. 4 Lecture 17: Theories of Consciousness that Neuroscientists Take Seriously
  5. 5 Lecture 19: Theories of Consciousness

Course materials