LSA Course Guide

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Class Detail:
WN 2013 Honors Program HONORS 250 - Honors Social Sciences Seminar Section 002 Evolution of Cognition and Social Science Ways of Knowing
Credits:	3
Requirements & Distribution:	SS
Other:	Honors
Waitlist Capacity:	99
Advisory Prerequisites:	Open to all Honors students.
Repeatability:	May be elected twice for credit.
Primary Instructor:	Birdsall,William
	(real time availability for all sections)

There is now overwhelming evidence for the evolution of all known life. This course will focus on the evolution of human cognition and its implications for what we know and believe about cognition today, particularly social science knowledge. Some questions we plan to address: In what respects is sensory knowledge given to the brain passively versus constructed by the brain? What does the brain “know” that it doesn’t tell our consciousness? When did language evolve and why? Does language reveal or hide the knowledge process? What can and do we know consciously? What is certainty and of what can we be certain? How does science differ from ordinary experience and from art? What is the role of imagination in the sciences? How and why are social sciences so different from physical science and from one another? In this course we will carefully review the philosophical foundations of modern physical and social sciences and compare their methods. The disciplines I will emphasize are economics, anthropology, sociology, and psychology; political science will not be neglected if there is interest among the students. Course Requirements: No data submitted Intended Audience: No data submitted Class Format: No data submitted

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