Module description
Cognitive science is the interdisciplinary study of the mind. Philosophy is central to this enterprise, dealing with issues arising at the connection between other disciplines within cognitive science, such as psychology, neuroscience and artificial intelligence, as well as foundational issues, such as the nature of thought, perception, action, computation, representation, especially as they bear upon issues in the epistemology and metaphysics of mind. This module introduces some of the main philosophical issues and debates that arise within cognitive science, such as:
- How do we perceive and interact with the world?
- What is the architecture of the mind?
- What is the nature and role of mental representations in cognition?
- How do we acquire and use concepts?
- How does the brain relate to the mind and cognition?
- What are the challenges and limitations of artificial intelligence?
The module will examine various theoretical perspectives and empirical findings that inform the above questions, as well as critically evaluate the arguments and evidence for and against them. The module will also explore the implications of cognitive science for other areas of philosophy.
Assessment details
Summative assessment: 1 x 3,000-word essay (100%)
Educational aims & objectives
This module aims to provide students with a philosophical understanding of a selection of debates on the study of wakeful consciousness, sleep and dreams.
Learning outcomes
By the end of the module, students will be able to demonstrate intellectual, transferable, and practicable skills appropriate to a Level 6 module. They will be able to think critically about debates on human psychology.
Teaching pattern
One one-hour weekly lecture and one one-hour weekly seminar over ten weeks.
Suggested reading list
Indicative reading list
Crowther, T. and Soteriou, M. (2017) ‘Time in the Dream’. In I. Phillips (ed.) The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Temporal Experience. London, Routledge.
Crowther, T. (2018) “Experience, dreaming, and the phenomenology of wakeful consciousness”, in F. Dorsch, F. MacPherson, & M. Nida-Rumelin (eds.), Phenomenal Presence, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Ichikawa, J. (2009). Dreaming and imagination. Mind and Language, 24(1), 103–21.
Ichikawa, J. (2016). Imagination, dreaming, and hallucination. In Amy Kind (Ed.), Routledge Handbook of the Philosophy of Imagination (pp. 149–162). London: Routledge.
Krueger JM, Nguyen JT, Dykstra-Aiello CJ, Taishi P (2019) Local sleep. Sleep Med Rev 2019, 43:14-21.
Levy, N. and Bayne, T. (2004) A will of one’s own. Consciousness, Control and Character. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry 27: 459-70
Levy, N. and Bayne, T. (2004) Doing without deliberation: automatism, automaticity, and moral accountability, International Review of Psychiatry 16(3), 209–215
Metzinger, T., 2013, “Why Are Dreams Interesting for Philosophers? The Example of Minimal Phenomenal Selfhood, Plus an Agenda for Future Research”, Frontiers in Psychology, 4
O’Shaughnessy, B. (1991) ‘The Anatomy of Consciousness’, Philosophical Issues, Vol. 1, Consciousness, pp. 135-177.
O’Shaughnessy, B. (2002). Dreaming. Inquiry, 45, 399–432.
Pagel, J., Blagrove, M., Levin, R. et al. (2001) ‘Definitions of Dream: A Paradigm for Comparing Field Descriptive Specific Studies of Dream’. Dreaming 11,
Revonsuo, A. (2005) “The Self in Dreams”, in The Lost Self. Pathologies of the Brain and Identity, T.E. Feinberg and J.P. Keenan (eds.), Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 206–219.
Revonsuo, A., J. Tuominen, and K. Valli (2015) “The Avatars in the Machine – Dreaming as a Simulation of Social Reality”, in T. Metzinger and J. M. Windt (eds.), Open MIND, Frankfurt am Main: MIND Group.
Rosen, M.G. (2013) “What I Make up when I Wake up: Anti-Experience Views and Narrative Fabrication of Dreams”, Frontiers in Psychology, 4,
Rosen, M.G. and J. Sutton (2013)“Self-Representation and Perspectives in Dreams”, Philosophy Compass, 8(11): 1041–1053
Siegel, J. (2009) ‘Sleep viewed as a state of adaptive inactivity’. Nat Rev Neurosci. 10(10):747–753. Sosa, E. (2005). Dreams and philosophy. Proceedings and Addresses of the American Philosophical Association, 79(2), 7–18.
Soteriou, M. (2019) ‘Waking Up and Being Conscious’, Aristotelian Society Supplementary Volume, Volume 93, Issue 1
James Stazicker, (2019) ‘Waking, Knowing, and Being Conscious’, Aristotelian Society Supplementary Volume, Volume 93, Issue 1
Sutton, J. 2009, “Dreaming”. In John Symons & Paco Calvo (eds.), Routledge Companion to the Philosophy of Psychology. Routledge
Voss, U., R. Holzmann, I. Tuin, and J.A. Hobson (2009) “Lucid Dreaming: A State of Consciousness with Features of Both Waking and Non-Lucid Dreaming”, Sleep, 32(9): 1191–1200.
Windt, J. (2015) Dreaming: A Conceptual Framework for Philosophy of Mind and Empirical Research (MIT Press) Jennifer Windt’s, "Dreams and Dreaming", in The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2017 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL =<https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2017/entries/dreams-dreaming/>. Secctions 2.4-2.8
Zadra A, Desautels A, Petit D, Montplaisir, J. (2013) ‘Somnambulism: clinical aspects and pathophysiological hypotheses’. The Lancet Neurology, 12; 285-94
Zadra A, Pilon, M (2011). Non-rapid eye movement (NREM) parasomnias. Handbook of Clinical Neurology, 99: 851-868.
Zadra, A. and Stickgold R. (2021). When Brains Dream: Exploring the Science and Mystery of Sleep. WW Norton