Philosophy of Psychology and Cognitive Science

Psychology is the study of thinking, and cognitive science is the interdisciplinary investigation of mind and intelligence that also includes philosophy, artificial intelligence, neuroscience, linguistics, and anthropology. In these investigations, many philosophical issues arise concerning methods and central concepts. The Handbook of Philosophy of Psychology and Cognitive Science contains 16 essays by leading philosophers of science that illuminate the nature of the theories and explanations used in the investigation of minds. Topics discussed include representation, mechanisms, reduction, perception, consciousness, language, emotions, neuroscience, and evolutionary psychology. Comprehensive coverage of philosophy of psychology and cognitive science Distinguished contributors: leading philosophers in this area Contributions closely tied to relevant scientific research

Psychology is the study of thinking, and cognitive science is the interdisciplinary investigation of mind and intelligence that also includes philosophy, artificial intelligence, neuroscience, linguistics, and anthropology. In these investigations, many philosophical issues arise concerning methods and central concepts. The Handbook of Philosophy of Psychology and Cognitive Science contains 16 essays by leading philosophers of science that illuminate the nature of the theories and explanations used in the investigation of minds. Topics discussed include representation, mechanisms, reduction, perception, consciousness, language, emotions, neuroscience, and evolutionary psychology. Key Features - Comprehensive coverage of philosophy of psychology and cognitive science - Distinguished contributors: leading philosophers in this area - All contributions closely tied to relevant scientific research - Contributions clearly written for an interdisciplinary audience - Contributions are long and thorough Key Features - Comprehensive coverage of philosophy of psychology and cognitive science - Distinguished contributors: leading philosophers in this area - All contributions closely tied to relevant scientific research - Contributions clearly written for an interdisciplinary audience - Contributions are long and thorough

This collection of readings shows how cognitive science can influence most of the primary branches of philosophy, as well as how philosophy critically examines the foundations of cognitive science. Its broad coverage extends beyond current texts that focus mainly on the impact of cognitive science on philosophy of mind and philosophy of psychology, to include materials that are relevant to five other branches of philosophy: epistemology, philosophy of science (and mathematics), metaphysics, language, and ethics. The readings are organized by philosophical fields, with selections evenly divided between philosophers and cognitive scientists. They draw on research in numerous areas of cognitive science, including cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, social psychology, psychology of reasoning and judgment, artificial intelligence, linguistics, and neuropsychology. There are timely treatments of current topics and debates such as the innate understanding of number, children's theory of mind, self-knowledge, consciousness, connectionism, and ethics and cognitive science.

This book is meant as a part of the larger contemporary philosophical project of naturalizing logico-mathematical knowledge, and addresses the key question that motivates most of the work in this field: What is philosophically relevant about the nature of logico-mathematical knowledge in recent research in psychology and cognitive science? The question about this distinctive kind of knowledge is rooted in Plato’s dialogues, and virtually all major philosophers have expressed interest in it. The essays in this collection tackle this important philosophical query from the perspective of the modern sciences of cognition, namely cognitive psychology and neuroscience. Naturalizing Logico-Mathematical Knowledge contributes to consolidating a new, emerging direction in the philosophy of mathematics, which, while keeping the traditional concerns of this sub-discipline in sight, aims to engage with them in a scientifically-informed manner. A subsequent aim is to signal the philosophers’ willingness to enter into a fruitful dialogue with the community of cognitive scientists and psychologists by examining their methods and interpretive strategies.

Cognitive science is the study of minds and mental processes. Psychology, neuroscience, computer science, and philosophy, among other subdisciplines, all contribute to this study. In this volume, leading researchers debate five core questions in the philosophy of cognitive science: Is an innate Universal Grammar required to explain our linguistic capacities? Are concepts innate or learned? What role do our bodies play in cognition? Can neuroscience help us to understand the mind? Can cognitive science help us understand human morality? For each topic, the volume provides two essays, each advocating for an opposing approach. The editors provide reading questions and suggested readings for each topic, helping to make the volume accessible to readers who are new to the debates.

This volume offers an overview of the philosophy of cognitive science that balances breadth and depth, with chapters covering every aspect of the psychology and cognitive anthropology.

In this volume, the authors present their view of cognition. They propose that unlike the classical paradigm that takes the mind to be a computer, the mind is best understood as a dynamical system realized in a neural network.

Psychology aims to give us a scientific account of how the mind works. But what does it mean to have a science of the mental, and what sort of picture of the mind emerges from our best psychological theories? This book addresses these philosophical puzzles in a way that is accessible to readers with little or no background in psychology or neuroscience. Using clear and detailed case studies and drawing on up-to-date empirical research, it examines perception and action, the link between attention and consciousness, the modularity of mind, how we understand other minds, and the influence of language on thought, as well as the relationship between mind, brain, body, and world. The result is an integrated and comprehensive overview of much of the architecture of the mind, which will be valuable for both students and specialists in philosophy, psychology, and cognitive science.

Philosophy of Psychology is a well-structured introduction to the nature and mechanisms of cognition and behaviour from one of the leaders in the field.

An accessible analysis of the relationship between folk psychology and contemporary scientific psychology.

A translation of the renowned French reference book, Vocabulaire de sciences cognitives , the Dictionary of Cognitive Science presents comprehensive definitions in more than 120 subjects. Topics range from 'Abduction' to 'Writing', and each entry is covered from as many perspectives as possible within the domains of psychology, artificial intelligence, neuroscience, philosophy, and linguistics. The editor and his advisory board, each a specialist in one of these areas, have brought together 60 internationally recognized scholars to give the reader a comprehensive understanding of the most current and dynamic thinking in the cognitive sciences.

The Routledge Companion to Philosophy of Psychology is an invaluable guide and major reference source to the major topics, problems, concepts and debates in philosophy of psychology and is the first companion of its kind. A team of renowned international contributors provide forty-two chapters organised into six clear parts: I. Historical background to the philosophy of psychology II. Psychological explanation III. Cognition and representation IV. The biological basis of psychology V. Perceptual experience VI. Personhood The Companion covers key topics such as the origins of experimental psychology; folk psychology; behaviorism and functionalism; philosophy, psychology and neuroscience; the language of thought, modularity, nativism and representational theories of mind; consciousness and the senses; personal identity; the philosophy of psychopathology and dreams, emotion and temporality. Essential reading for all students of philosophy of mind, science and psychology, The Routledge Companion to Philosophy of Psychology will also be of interest to anyone studying psychology and its related disciplines.

This is the first major textbook to offer a truly comprehensive review of cognitive science in its fullest sense. Ranging from artificial intelligence models of neural processes and cognitive psychology to recent discursive and cultural theories, Rom Harré offers an original yet accessible integration of the field. At its core, this textbook addresses the question 'How can psychology become a science?'. The answer is based on a clear account of method and explanation in the natural sciences and how they can be adapted to psychological research. Rom Harré has used his experience of both the natural and the human sciences to create a text on which exciting and insightful courses can be built in many ways. The text is based on the idea that underlying the long history of attempts to create a scientific psychology there are many unexamined presuppositions that must be brought to light. Whether describing language, categorization, memory, the brain or connectionism the book always links our intuitions about how we think, feel and act in the contexts of everyday life to the latest accounts of the neural tools with which we accomplish the cognitive tasks demanded of us. Computational and biological models are used to link the discursive analysis of everyday cognition to the necessary activities of the brain and nervous system. Fluently written and well structured, this is an ideal text for students who want to gain a comprehensive view of the current state of the art with its seeming divergence into studies of meanings and studies of neurology. The book is divided into four basic modules, with suggestions for three lectures in each. The plan is related to the overall pattern of the semester programme. The reader is guided with helpful learning points, sections of study questions for review, and key readings for each chapter. Cognitive Science: A Philosophical Introduction, with its remarkable sweep of themes, past and present, truly introduces 'the science of the mind' for a new generation of psychology students. Cognitive Science should be indispensable reading for students at all levels taking courses in cognitive science and cognitive psychology, and useful additional course reading in other areas such as social psychology, artificial intelligence, philosophy of the mind and linguistics. Key Points · First major textbook to provide a link between computational, philosophical and biological models in an accessible format for students. Presents a new vision of psychology as a scientific discipline. · Breadth of coverage - ranging from artificial intelligence, to key themes & theories in cognitive science (past and present) - language, memory, the brain and behaviour - to recent discursive and cultural theories. · Plenty of student features to help the student and tutor including helpful learning points, study and essay questions and key readings at the end of every chapter.

This text focuses on two major issues: the nature of scientific inquiry and the relations between scientific disciplines. Designed to introduce the basic issues and concepts in the philosophy of science, Bechtel writes for an audience with little or no philosophical background. The first part of the book explores the legacy of Logical Positivism and the subsequent post-Positivistic developments in the philosophy of science. The second section examines arguments for and against using a model of theory reduction to integrate scientific disciplines. The book concludes with a chapter describing non-reductionist approaches for relating scientific disciplines using psycholinguistic and cognitive neuroscience models.

Publisher Description

An argument that there are perceptual mechanisms that retrieve information in cognitively and conceptually unmediated ways and that this sheds light on various philosophical issues. In Cognition and Perception, Athanassios Raftopoulos discusses the cognitive penetrability of perception and claims that there is a part of visual processes (which he calls “perception”) that results in representational states with nonconceptual content; that is, a part that retrieves information from visual scenes in conceptually unmediated, “bottom-up,” theory-neutral ways. Raftopoulos applies this insight to problems in philosophy of science, philosophy of mind, and epistemology, and examines how we access the external world through our perception as well as what we can know of that world. To show that there is a theory-neutral part of existence, Raftopoulos turns to cognitive science and argues that there is substantial scientific evidence. He then claims that perception induces representational states with nonconceptual content and examines the nature of the nonconceptual content. The nonconceptual information retrieved, he argues, does not allow the identification or recognition of an object but only its individuation as a discrete persistent object with certain spatiotemporal properties and other features. Object individuation, however, suffices to determine the referents of perceptual demonstratives. Raftopoulos defends his account in the context of current discussions on the issue of the theory-ladenness of perception (namely the Fodor-Churchland debate), and then discusses the repercussions of his thesis for problems in the philosophy of science. Finally, Raftopoulos claims that there is a minimal form of realism that is defensible. This minimal realism holds that objects, their spatiotemporal properties, and such features as shape, orientation, and motion are real, mind-independent properties in the world.

A scholarly examination of the centrality of the mind-body problem within and across the science of cognition--from philosophy to psychology to artificial intelligence to neural science. Conceptions of the mind-body problem range from the heritage of Cartesianism to the identification of the circumscribed brain structures responsible for domain specific cognitive mechanisms. Neither narrowly technical nor philosophically vague, this is a structured and detailed account of advancing intellectual developments in theory, research, and knowledge illumined by the conceptual vicissitudes of the mind-body problem. This unique treatment will be of special interest to creative scholars in the disciplines of he sciences of cognition.

Cognitive Science combines the interdisciplinary streams of cognitive science into a unified narrative in an all-encompassing introduction to the field. This text presents cognitive science as a discipline in its own right, and teaches students to apply the techniques and theories of the cognitive scientist's 'toolkit' - the vast range of methods and tools that cognitive scientists use to study the mind. Thematically organized, rather than by separate disciplines, Cognitive Science underscores the problems and solutions of cognitive science, rather than those of the subjects that contribute to it - psychology, neuroscience, linguistics, etc. The generous use of examples, illustrations, and applications demonstrates how theory is applied to unlock the mysteries of the human mind. Drawing upon cutting-edge research, the text has been updated and enhanced to incorporate new studies and key experiments since the first edition. A new chapter on consciousness has also been added.

An authoritative, up-to-date survey of the state of the art in cognitive science, written for non-specialists.

Gary Hatfield draws together his work on the science and philosophy of visual perception and cognition, including spatial perception, colour perception and qualia, object perception, the structure of conscious experience, physiological reduction and the role of neuroscience, the history of theories of vision, and the status of introspective methods.