2022/2023

2022/2023

DM270

M-FIL/02 (LOGIC AND PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE)

DEPARTMENT OF BRAIN AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCES

PERCORSO COMUNE

1°

2nd semester (27/02/2023 - 09/06/2023)

6

36 lesson hours

Italian

WRITTEN TEST

Sans Pinillos Alger (titolare) - 6 ECTS

Basic knowledge of the history of Western philosophy.

Knowledge of the fundamental issues related to the philosophy of cognitive science in the contemporary debate.

The course will discuss the most relevant philosophical and epistemological theories that emerged within the development of cognitive science as an interdisciplinary field of research. At the beginning of the course, a brief history of cognitive science will be offered, followed by a discussion of both internalist theories (such as the computational theory of the mind and neuroscientific approach) and externalist theories of cognition (such as the notions of embodied, enactive, extended, and embedded mind). Also, the course will introduce different philosophical and epistemological positions currently advanced and criticized in international scientific literature.

In particular, the course will deal with these subjects:
1) The computational theory of the mind and the philosophical/epistemological debate on Artificial Intelligence.
2) Development of the idea of rationality from the classical model to the notion of bounded and ecological rationality.
3) Definition of irrationality, self-deception, and epistemic delusions.
4) The extended, embodied, enactive, and embedded mind.
5) Discovery, creativity, and model-based cognitive processes.

One lecture will be devoted to discussing how to write an essay suitable for the exam.

Lectures and seminars led by some volunteer students.

**THE FINAL PROGRAM WILL BE PROVIDED DURING THE CLASS**

Scientific literature (in Italian):
Caiani S. Z. (2017) Corporeità e cognizione. La filosofia della mente incorporata, Milano: Mondadori.
Caruana, F., & Viola M. (2018) Come funzionano le emozioni, Bologna: il Mulino.
Galloni G. (2006) Identità e Rappresentazione: Scienza Cognitiva e Teoria della mente, Roma: Stamen.
Godfrey-Smith, P. (2018). Altre menti. Il polpo, il mare e le remote origini della coscienza. Adelphi.
Labinaz P. (2013) La razionalità, Roma: Carocci Editore.

Scientific literature (in English):
Clark A. (2008) Supersizing the Mind, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Godfrey-Smith, P. (2017). Other Minds: The Octopus and the Evolution of Intelligent Life. William Collins.
Todd P. M., Gigerenzer G., & the ABC Research Groupb (2012), Ecological rationality: Intelligence in the world, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Thagard P. (1999) Mind. Introduction to Cognitive Science, Cambridge: The MIT Press.
Varela, F. J., Thomson, E., Rosch, E. (2017). The Embodied Mind: Cognitive Science and Human Experience.The MIT Press.

Students are advised not to buy the books proposed in this bibliography before starting the course. During the first lecture the teacher will present the subjects of the course and how students should prepare for the exam.

Written essay, which must be submitted at least ten days before the date of the exam.

In case of problems finding the materials for the exam, students must contact the teacher by email as early as possible.

Students can contact the teacher to agree on a custom program.

The essay will be considered suitable for evaluation if and only if:
• It will not contain plagiarism (students should use Pavia antiplagiarism program to check their essays - http://biblioteche.unipv.it/home/risorse/antiplagio).
• The essays will contain between 3500 and 4500 words.
• The essay will be appropriately referenced within the text and will have a list of bibliographical references.
• The bibliography at the end of the essay will contain at least three bibliographical items taken from the official bibliography of the course.

Objective 5 - gender equality;
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