Evolution and the Human Mind - AFSV00443

• Title: Evolution and the Human Mind
• Guaranteed by: Institute of Philosophy and Religious Studies (21-UFAR)
• Faculty: Faculty of Arts
• Actual: from 2024 to 2024
• Semester: summer
• Points: 0
• E-Credits: 5
• Examination process: summer s.:
• Hours per week, examination: summer s.:2/0, Ex [HT]
• Capacity: unknown / unknown (unknown)
• Min. number of students: unlimited
• 4EU+: no
• Virtual mobility / capacity: no
• State of the course: taught
• Language: English
• Teaching methods: full-time
• Is provided by: ASZFS0068
• Note: course can be enrolled in outside the study plan; enabled for web enrollment
• Guarantor: prof. James Hill, Ph.D.
• Class: Exchange - 08.1 Philosophy

Annotation

Evolution and the Human Mind

The code ASZFS0068 is for students taking the course in the Czech "Společný základ", while code AFSV00443 is for students taking the course as part of the Erasmus programme.

Our aim is to investigate the impact of evolutionary theory on the understanding of the nature and powers of the human mind. We will examine the different challenges to the evolutionary account of mind posed by consciousness, language, reason, ethics, aesthetics and the religious sense. Our course will begin with the thought of the nineteenth century originators of the theory of evolution by natural selection---Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace---and it will go on to discuss contemporary thinkers such as Daniel Dennett, Thomas Nagel, Stephen Pinker, Richard Dawkins, Noam Chomsky, Lida Cosmides and John Tooby. Central to our discussion will be the relation between biological evolution and cultural evolution; the significance of evolution for our cognitive powers and their ability to know nature; and the dialogue of evolutionary theory and religious belief. This course, which will be conducted in English, is intended for bachelor's students in all the different areas of the humanities. It will not presuppose any particular knowledge of the relevant literature in biology, psychology or philosophy.

Last update: Hill James, prof., Ph.D. (06.02.2025)

Literature

Darwin, Charles. The Descent of Man. 1871*

Dawkins, Richard. The Selfish Gene. OUP. 1976/2006

Dennett, Daniel. From Bacteria to Bach and Back: The Evolution of Minds. Penguin. 2017

Chomsky, Noam. Language and Mind. Third Edition, 2005

Cosmides, Leda and Tooby, John. Evolutionary Psychology: A Primer. Online at:

            https://www.cep.ucsb.edu/primer.html

Huxley, T.H. “On the Hypothesis that Animals Are Automata, and Its History”. 1874

Nagel, Thomas. Mind and Cosmos: Why the Materialist Neo-Darwinian Conception of NatureIs Almost Certainly False. 2012

Pinker, Steven. The Language Instinct. Harpers.1994/2007

Pinker, Steven. How the Mind Works, Norton, 1997

Tomesello, Michael. The Cultural Origins of Human Cognition. Harvard: Cambridge. 1999

*For Darwin’s texts see: http://darwin-online.org.uk

Last update: Hill James, prof., Ph.D. (01.12.2024)

Requirements to the exam

Podmínky jsou: (i) pravidelná účast na přednáškách; a (ii) písemná zkouška v červnu 2025 (přesný termín bude uveřejněn do 1. května).

Zkouška (60 min) bude řadou krátkých písemných otázek na hlavní témata kurzu.

The conditions for a grade are: (i) attendance at the lectures; and (ii) a written exam in June 2025 (the date will be made public by May 1st). The exam (60 minutes) will be made up of a number of short written questions on the main themes of the course.

Last update: Hill James, prof., Ph.D. (06.02.2025)