Cognitive Science-L3

What is this course about?

mind (3)

the faculty of concioussnes and thought

the intellect

a person’s attention

What is philosophy?

the search for knowledge

metaphysics

examines the nature of reality

epistemology

is the study of knowledge

The Mind-Body problem

the seeming incompatibility between the phyisical proprieties of the brain and the mental qualities of the mind

subjective phenomena of the mind?

thoughts,feelings,beliefs

nativism

we are born with knowledge

empiricism

knowledge is acquired through experience

The nature nurture debate

nature= genetically determined traits

nurture= traits learned through experience

Declarative knowledge

facts, not innate

Procedural knowledge

behaviour, innate

Concioussnes “definition”

the subjective quality of experience

phenomenal concept of mind (feeling)

mind as a subjective conscious experience, the focus of philosophers

psychological concept of mind (behavior)

how the mind causes and explains behavior, focus of psychologists and cognitive scientists

The easy consciousness problem

what brain activity underlies the different experiences

The hard consciousness problem

explaining subjective experiences (CS cannot)

The explanatory gap

the gap between the hard vs easy consciousness problem

Scientific forms of explination

Reduction

Emergence

Reduction

explaining everything in terms of parts

Emergence

explanation requires an understanding of parts and how they work

The cartesian theory - Dennet

The homunculus watches everything as if it is watching it on a screen (The cartesian theater), problem: infinite

The Chinese room

Chinese native - room with non Chinese speaker - Chinese native
Can the natives communicate?