COGS 11.03 Mind, Language, and Morality

This course examines questions about the connection between mind, language, and normative domains such as morality, politics, and law. For example: how should we understand normative language that seems to be fundamentally about prescribing ways of acting, rather than about describing reality? Are moral judgments more a matter of emotion, or of belief? Can we reconcile a commitment to moral objectivity with our best scientific understanding of moral thought and talk? This course will engage such questions from a fundamentally interdisciplinary perspective, engaging with work from philosophy, cognitive science, linguistics, and psychology. In so doing, we will explore how empirical work can inform philosophical inquiry, and how philosophical inquiry can continue to guide ongoing research in the cognitive sciences. Students will be encouraged to work in interdisciplinary teams to create their own co-authored research.

Instructor

Phillips and Plunkett

Cross Listed Courses

COCO 031 PHIL 50.35

Degree Requirement Attributes

Dist:TMV

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Offered

• Summer