Philosophy of the Life Sciences

This advanced undergraduate course introduces students to philosophical research in philosophy of the life sciences, including philosophy of biology, philosophy of psychology, and philosophy of neuroscience. It is suitable for students who have a strong background in philosophy. What is taught will change from year to year. The topic for 2024 will be Philosophy of Cognitive Science. What is intelligence? Surely, animals can think. But what is thinking, if not the spooky action of an immaterial soul? How can we scientifically study the mind? Cognitive Science is a multidisciplinary field that answers these questions, and for most of its history did so with resounding consensus: the mind is furnished by internal representations, and intelligence involves computing over those representations. That consensus has frayed in recent years, with new approaches emerging. The course will be split into three sections. The first half covers the fundamentals of cognitive science, how it evolved as a distinct scientific discipline, and the consensus view. With the ‘Computational Theory of Mind’ as our foundation, we will learn how to model the brain using Turing-machines and neural network models. The second module engages with contemporary research programmes that, to various extents, argue against the consensus view. They argue the mind is inextricably linked with the body and the world, and so the dynamic interplay between them is the key to cognition. The final module situates intelligence in a broader evolutionary context. We will see minds and brains on a natural continuum: intelligence is diverse and subject to natural forces, just like any other biological phenomenon. Ultimately, we will learn - multiple ways of understanding the relationship between minds and brains, and - how to place intelligence in the natural world.