Philosophical Foundations of Cognitive Science (C8808E)

15 credits, Level 5

Autumn teaching

In this module, you examine various philosophical foundational issues in cognitive science by focusing on the nature and role of computation and representation in cognitive scientific explanations.

In particular, you will answer the question: can our everyday way of understanding the mind, in terms of beliefs, desires and intentions, serve as a foundation for a scientific understanding of mind? You then analyse answers that have been given to this question.

Teaching

50%: Lecture
50%: Seminar

Assessment

30%: Coursework (Essay)
70%: Examination (Computer-based examination)

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 150 hours of work. This breaks down into about 22 hours of contact time and about 128 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2024/25. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum.

We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.