Subject Area: Philosophy

Humans and other animals stand out from the rest of nature because of our capacity to feel, think, and act purposefully on the world around us. For all we know, these capacities may be unique in the universe. Other physical systems (such as rocks, trees and even robots) can interact with their environments, but have no feelings, thoughts or desires. In this course, we will be reflecting upon the conceptual foundations of contemporary approaches to the nature of such phenomena in the cognitive sciences, including psychology, neuroscience and artificial intelligence.