180158 VO Current Developments in Philosophy of Mind and Cognitive Science (2025S)

Content:

What are mental states? Are they brain states, embodied engagements with our environment, or do they exist at all? Can the content of our thoughts be stored in the external world? Are thoughts intrinsically conscious? These questions have preoccupied philosophy of mind and cognitive science in the past and continue to be debated today. Although timeless in their philosophical relevance, recent developments in cognitive science and philosophy have provided new impetus and possible answers to these age-old questions.

This course will focus on these more recent developments and the recent history leading up to them. The course will begin with a historical introduction, followed by a discussion of the established philosophical problems of "consciousness" and "intentionality", and will turn to interdisciplinary research on topics such as self-knowledge, “enaction”, extended cognition, predictive processing, and other minds.

Aims—students will:

- Become familiar with recent developments in philosophy of mind and cognitive science
- Get to know the historical background leading to these recent trends
- Come to understand the basic notions of philosophy of mind, such as propositional attitudes, phenomenal character, etc.
- Learn how to develop their own position using both philosophical arguments and empirical evidence in an integrative way.