This course will introduce students to the philosophical foundations of cognitive science. Topics will include the nature and distribution of consciousness, including cognitive, neurobiological, and informational theories; theories of cognition, including computational-representational and non-representational “EEE” (embodied/emergent/enactive) theories; theories of emotion, affect, valence, and motivation; theories of action and agency, and evolutionary theory. All of these discussions will be cutting-edge research in human and nonhuman animal cognition. The class will also include a discussion of competing conceptual, inferential, and conceptual strategies across the disciplines that comprise cognitive science.

The purpose of this course is to improve everyday reasoning skills. Critical thinking means evaluating the reasons for our actions and beliefs. Ideally, we think our actions are rational, not arbitrary. But one does not have to look far to discover disagreement and apparent irrationality. What accounts for this? This course investigates how to argue effectively, how to evaluate evidence and reasons, and how to marshal good evidence and reasons in order to arrive at reliable knowledge and justified action. It covers common mistakes that people make in causal, statistical, moral, and everyday reasoning, and it teaches how and when it pays to be skeptical, reflective, and critical.