Cognitive science and Art both deal with the human mind, often with different methods, but always with a shared sense of wonder at this most puzzling of phenomena. The aim of the “Cognitive Science & Art”course is to present parallel artistic and cognitive approaches to current topics relevant to both fields of inquiry.

The course explores the interactions literature on self and the literature on consciousness. We will ask whether consciousness entails some degree of self representation, we will also see the many ways the self can impinge on consciousness. To do so we will rely on philosophical analysis, psychological constructs and neurobiological mechanisms. Special emphasis is placed on the experiencing self at a given moment.

The goal of this seminar is two-fold. First, it aims to provide basic knowledge about the “Bayesian brain hypothesis”, the idea that Bayesian inference is useful to describe the functioning of the mind (psychology) and the brain (neuroscience). The course will illustrate several domains of cognition in which the Bayesian brain hypothesis has been successful. The course will also be critical, emphasizing what are the caveats and limitations of this hypothesis.

This course will provide an overview of the field of behavioural and neural economics, which studies the computational processes, involved in value-based decision-making as well as their neural implementation. We particularly focus on how decision variables, such as to the expected utility and its components (eg value, probability, risk and delay) are calculated and represented in the brain. The anchoring of decision-making into cognitive et computational processes allow correcting normative prespictions thanks to behavioural observations.

The course aims at understanding how humans make voluntary decisions and adaptively act in the environment. The course notably addresses the neural bases of central executive functions (judgment & decision-making) in humans. These functions associated with the frontal lobes form the capacity to decide not only in response to external events but also in relation with intentions and choices stemming from motives, preferences and beliefs, which in turn derive from overt behaviour and covert reasoning.

The course approaches various concepts revolving around the neural code and neural computations, with examples drawn both from the experimental literature and computational models. The concepts can be understood with minimal mathematical background. The course is organized around distinct modules, each targeting a central concept in cognitive neuroscience. We will discuss methodological and epistemological challenges and how they structure current research.

In this course we will engage with a series of current debates in the philosophy of psychology. We will ask how recent findings in the cognitive sciences bear on traditional philosophical questions concerning psychological capacities such as emotion, perception, memory, imagination and high level cognition.

Prerequisites: Introductory class in philosophy of mind or philosophy of cognitive science

First year, second semester
Number of hours: 24h
ECTS: 6

This course aims to teach philosophical writing skills for students who have decided to specialize in philosophy. 

Prerequisites : None, but ideally you should take or have taken an introductory course in logic; restricted to students with major in philosophy; please contact instructor if you think you do not meet either prerequisite

Maximal enrollment: 6 students

ECTS : 6 (36h)

The course explores what human beings know about the sound patterns of their languages, how they learn it, and how this knowledge is represented in their minds. We begin with an overview of the major characteristics of sound patterns, and introduce core phonological concepts (phoneme, feature, alternation).

This course is a fast-paced introduction to natural language semantics and pragmatics.