About the Cognitive Science Program
The Cognitive Science Program’s mission is to provide interdisciplinary, high-quality training to undergraduate and graduate students in the science of the human mind that prepares students to tackle global and multicultural challenges.
Cognitive science is the study of how intelligent beings (including people, animals, and machines) perceive, act, know, and think.
It explores the process and content of thought as observed in individuals, distributed through communities, manifested in the structure and meaning of language, modeled by algorithms, and contemplated by philosophies of mind.
Its models are formulated using concepts drawn from many disciplines, including psychology, linguistics, logic, computer science, anthropology, and philosophy, and they are tested using evidence from psychological experiments, clinical studies, field studies, computer simulations, and neurophysiological observation.
Upcoming Events
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Sep
9
SEWing Circle: Ahmed AboHamad 3:00pm
SEWing Circle: Ahmed AboHamad
Monday, September 9th, 2024
03:00 PM - 04:00 PM
Manchester Hall
The Social Epistemology Working Group (Also known as SEW or the SEWing Circle) investigates philosophical issues at the intersection of epistemology, philosophy of language, philosophy of technology and AI, and social and political philosophy. Activities include research presentations, reading groups, and external speakers.
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Sep
9
The Department of Anthropology’s 2024 John Ryan Memorial Lecture 4:00pm
The Department of Anthropology’s 2024 John Ryan Memorial Lecture
Monday, September 9th, 2024
04:00 PM
Homer Babbidge Library
Humanizing Human Evolution Research The Department of Anthropology’s 2024 John Ryan Memorial Lecture Monday, September 9, 4 PM. Heritage Room, Homer Babbidge Library Rm. 4118. Light refreshments served. Dr. Kathryn Ranhorn (Arizona State University and the Institute for Human Origins). Discussion moderated by Christian Tryon and Sarah Williams
Contact Information:
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Sep
13
ECOM Speaker Series: Prof. Ashley Shaw 4:00pm
ECOM Speaker Series: Prof. Ashley Shaw
Friday, September 13th, 2024
04:00 PM - 05:30 PM
Homer Babbidge Library
Ashley Shaw is a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow in Philosophy at the University of Leeds. He received his PhD from UCL in 2019. He works in the Philosophy of Mind and Action; in particular, on the nature of desire, rational agency, reasons for action, and how they are related. He is currently working on a book on the nature of desire in rational agents, as well as related projects on need, self-control, and self-knowledge of desire.Abstract: Is Desire a Natural Kind?This paper evaluates an approach to theorising about desire as a natural kind. I clarify what this approach involves and distinguish between natural kinds and scientific kinds, proper subsets of natural kinds employed in certain scientific disciplines. I argue against two accounts of desire that identify the kind desire with the scientific kinds employed in the psychology and neuroscience of motivation and reward. I explore the prospects for rescuing the natural kind approach by giving up the claim that desire is a scientific kind and theorising about desire instead as a superordinate natural kind, a natural kind of natural scientific kinds. -
Sep
13
ECOM Welcome 5:30pm
ECOM Welcome
Friday, September 13th, 2024
05:30 PM - 07:15 PM
Homer Babbidge Library
ECOM welcome reception: Introducing ECOM members and guests and learning about their work.