Course Outline

1. An introduction to the philosophy of science

• What is the Philosophy of Science ?
• What is the value in developing a Philosophy of Science ?
  • The Philosophy of Science as meta-theory.
• Some terminology:
  • Explanandum/explanans.
  • Deduction/induction.
  • Anthropomorphism and teleological argument.
  • Epistemology/Ontology.
• A taxonomy of scientific epistemology.
• Inductivism:
  • Classical empiricism.
  • Naive realism.
  • Scientific realism.
  • Instrumentalism:
    • Logical Positivism:
      • The verifiability principle of meaning
    • Logical Empiricism:
      • Hypothesis generation by induction.
      • Explanation: deductive-nomological(DN), deductive-statistical(DS), inductive-statistical (IS), statistical-relevance(SR).
      • Confirmation and justification: hypothetico-deductive(HD), empirical justification and prediction,qualitative justification.
      • Reductionism.
      • Problems with logical empiricism: Hume's problem with induction, objections to Hume, the theory dependence of observation.
• Falsificationism:
  • Naive falsificationism.
  • Sophisticated (relative) falsificationism.
  • The limits of falsificationism:
    • The Quine-Duhem thesis and Occam's Razor.
    • The theory dependence of observation.
    • Historical evidence.
• The Noumenological world, subjectivism and Kant.
• Idealism and Rationalism.
• ``Globalism'' (Weltenschauung theories):
  • Lakatos's research programmes and objectivism.
  • Kuhn's paradigms and relativism.
  • Feyerabend's theory of anarchistic knowledge and pluralism.
• Can the meta-theories of science meet their own requirements ?
• Are practicing scientists aware of the need for a meta-theory of science ?
• The status and role of theory in the neurosciences.

2a. Some issues pertaining to the philosophy of mind

Topics will include substance and property dualism, functionalism, reductionism, revisionist materialism, consciousness, free will, ``the inductivist fallacy'' and Marr's meta-theory. Is cognitive science pre-theoretical ?

2b. Localisation, specialisation and lateralisation

Localisation, specialisation and lateralisation will be discussed with respect to being pre-theoretical clues to brain function and/or brain theory. Information will be derived from lesion/ablation/surgical studies, electro-stimulation and cerebral pathology. This will form in part an historical introduction/prelude to more recent non-invasive imaging techniques.

4a. Reductionism in the cognitive neurosciences

• Ontological, methodological and inter-theoretic reductionism
• The ``anti-reductionist's manifesto'' and the arguments for functionalism.
• The status of folk psychology and ``common-sense'' in the reductionistic debate.
• Lateral inhibition and Mach bands - an example of successful reductionism in the neurosciences.

4b. Process Philosophy

• alternatives to ontological reductionism
  • Process Philosophy (Whitehead/Bergson)
  • structuralism
  • general systems theory
  • dynamism
  • dialectical materialism

5. Physicalism and non-computability

• Discussion and evaluation of algorithm, Turing machine and the Universal Turing machine in the context of cognitive neuroscience
• The significance of the halting problem for functional/algorithmic models of cognitive processes
• Penrose's reinterpretation of Gödel's incompleteness theorem
• Objections to Penrose

6. Connectionism and attractor neural networks

• Formal definitions of McCulloch Pitts neurons, perceptron and multi-perceptron.
• The fundamental proposition of connectionism.
• Idealised network (cortical) states and the notion of an attractor.
• Relationship of the attractor to network pseudo-energy.
• How might attractors be recognized neurophysiologically and what this means in terms of freedom from the homunculus.
• Implications of attractor neural network modelling for the analysis/description/explanation of behavioural/cognitive states. Illustrative examples will be drawn from schizophrenia, OCD and BPAD.

7. The three paradigms of neuroscience

• The Sherringtonian reflex arc
• Connectionism and the neural network
• Mass action
  • state variables of cortex
  • basic topologies of networks of neurons
  • K sets: a topological hierarchy of neuronal interaction
  • state variables in K sets
  • Synaptic modification and ``learning''

8. The neural dynamics of the mammalian olfactory bulb

• Structure of the mammalian olfactory system
  • olfactory mucosa
  • olfactory bulb
  • olfactory nucleus
  • pre-piriform cortex
• Potential fields in the olfactory system
• The K-set topology of the olfactory system
• Electro-physiological properties
• Learning and adiabatic perceptual variance
• Extensions of theory to other sensory systems
• What does the olfactory system tell us about cognition and behaviour

9. Metaphysics and Science

• What is metaphysics ?
• What is the relationship between metaphysics and science
• metaphysical concepts
• process versus substance
• Psychological examples - James (process) vs Skinner (behaviourism)
• Neurophysiological example - Freeman's mass action in the context of neodarwinism and structuralism