Human beings are biological entities and their biology must surely constrain the way their minds work. It is biologically given that human beings have eyes and ears, that they can only see and hear within certain limits; that they can only respond to and remember information up to some limit; and so on. At the same time, it is a biological fact of human psychological development that it is only completed through acculturation, that is, through the acquisition of learned, shared, historically contingent concepts and practices, including the language an individual learns (such as English or Chinese), the concepts by which the individual describes and explains persons, places, things, and events (whether those concepts are religious, scientific, "folk" categories, philosophical, or what have you), and techniques and practices (for hunting, growing, crafting, etc.). Human thought is both biologically constrained and culturally conditioned. In this seminar we will examine the interplay between biology and culture as they are expressed in human psychology. We will give some attention to the emotions, but our focus will be on higher cognition and its expression in artefacts, images, language, and cultural productions. Readings from contemporary psychology, anthropology, and philosophy.
Requirements. The course is a seminar; participants are responsible for doing the reading prior to class and for engaging the discussion. There will two papers and a presentation. The first paper (8-10 pages) is due Feb. 24 (topics will be assigned). The second paper (15-20 pages) is due on April 28, and will be on the topic of the research presentation. For the presentation, students will choose a book as their focus, from a list of books I will provide. Teams of two will work on the presentation together and give it as a team; they will write separate papers.
Required books (Penn Book Center, 34th & Sansom):
Schedule of topics and reading assignments:
Week 1 (1/13): Dennett, chs. 1-3.
Week 2 (1/20): Dennett, chs. 4-6; Mithen, Preface, ch. 1.
Week 3 (1/27): Mithen, ch. 2; Merlin Donald, Precis of Origins of
the Modern Mind, Behavior and Brain Sciences,
16 (1993), pp. 737-48, 775-85 (Blackboard).
Week 4 (2/3): Mithen, chs. 3-5.
Week 5 (2/10): Mithen, chs. 6-8.
Week 6 (2/17): Mithen, chs. 9-11, Epilogue.
Week 7 (2/24): Evolutionary accounts of the emotions (Bb).
Week 8 (3/3): Tomasello, chs. 1-4.
Week 9 (3/17): Tomasello, chs. 5-7; Donald; optional: Renfrew (Bb).
Class held in Eisley Room, Anthropology Dept, Univ. Museum.
Week 10 (3/24): Sperber, Preface, chs. 1-3.
Week 11 (3/31): Sperber, chs. 4-6, Conclusion.
Week 12 (4/7): Research presentations: MD, Gardenfors. OB/LH, Donald.
Week 13 (4/14): Research presentations: DJ/LM, Lewis-Wms. LB/JG, McNamara.
Week 14 (4/21): Research presentations: PS/BT, Shore. SM, How Consumers Thk.