PS5010
Principal Approaches to the Origins of Mind
2016-2017
30
15
SCQF level 11
1
Academic year(s): 2016-2017
SCOTCAT credits : 30
ECTS credits : 15
Level : SCQF level 11
Semester: 1
Planned timetable:
This module serves to introduce distinct ways of studying the origins of mind within a comparative Tinbergian framework, emphasizing both functional and mechanistic accounts; why capacities exist, how they are implemented, how they evolved and how they develop. Lectures will cover general evolutionary theory and: (1) Comparative/Phylogenetic, (2) Developmental, (3) Mechanistic/causal, and (4) Functional/adaptive approaches. 'Hot' research topics will be presented using particulars of these frameworks and will exemplify the spectrum of methods possible to address the origins of mind.