Philosophy 150: Philosophy of the Cognitive Sciences
Winter 2004
When: MWF 11:00-11:50
Where: Warren Lecture Hall 2115
Instructor: Jonathan Cohen
joncohenREMOVETHIS@aardvark.ucsd.edu (omit text in caps, which reduces
automated spam)
office: (858) 534 6812
Office hours: Mondays 1-2:30 in H&SS 8072 (and by appointment; please feel
free to call)
Overview
This course is an introduction to the philosophy of cognitive
science.
It has two related but distinct goals.
First, we'll be looking at empirical research in several areas of
cognitive science --- the contemporary, interdisciplinary, scientific
study of the mind.
Second, we'll be attempting to grapple with some of the philosophical
questions that arise in the course of research in cognitive science.
During the empirical sections of the course, we'll focus most on
topics in vision science and linguistics, although we'll also discuss
topics in computer science, cognitive psychology, and other
domains in the cognitive science kingdom.
We'll devote our attention in the philosophical sections of
the course to methodological issues about the construction of
cognitive theories, and to questions concerning the extent to which
knowledge (particularly linguistic knowledge) is innate.
Course Requirements
There will be two assigned papers for the course, and a take home
final exam. There will be no midterm.
Books
There are two required books for the course, and some readings on
electronic reserve at Giesel Library.
The books are:
- Zenon Pylyshyn, Computation and Cognition: Toward a Foundation
for Cognitive Science, MIT Press, 1984, and
- Steven Pinker, The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates
Language, MIT Press, 1994.
Grading
I will assign your grade by weighting the papers and the exam equally
(1/3 each) with class participation used to decide borderline cases.
Tentative Schedule
(Readings marked with a '*' are on electronic reserve at Giesel.)
Segment 1 (weeks 1-3): Foundations of cognitive science
Reading: Pylyshyn, chapters 1-5
Segment 2 (weeks 4-6): Vision Science
Reading: Palmer, pp 171-192*, 200-253*
Segment 3 (weeks 7-8): Linguistics
Reading: Chomsky, "Methodological Preliminaries"*, Pinker, chapters 4,
5, 7
Segment 4 (weeks 9-10): Linguistic Nativism
Reading: Pinker, chapter 9, Cowie, pp 151-203*.