COG403H1S: Seminar in Cognitive Science Winter 2022 Syllabus Course Description Advanced treatment of cognitive science topics, including the application of core ideas from probability theory, information theory, statistics, and machine learning to modelling human cognition and artificial intelligence. This seminar will focus on current issues at the intersection of neuroscience, artificial intelligence, and philosophy. We will examine debates on the nature of perception and cognition and its implications for understanding consciousness. We will examine these issues from the perspective of third-generation cognitive science, which seeks a unified theory of perception, embodiment, cognition, and ecological situatedness, which also draws on sources from beyond standard Western philosophy of mind. The debates we will cover are generally upstream from more widespread concerns and theories related to cognition, but the implications are wide-ranging. We will also do a short course of open awareness training as a way of encouraging slightly more in-depth phenomenological analysis of conscious experience. Instructor: Dr. Alex Djedovic Email: alex.djedovic@mail.utoronto.ca Email policy: I will respond to emails within 48 hours, excluding weekends. If I do not respond within 48 hours, feel free to re-send the email. I will read messages only if they are from a UTORmail email account and their subject lines include the course identifier and a clear subject line. Where a question cannot be answered with a brief reply email, I will let you know that you should speak to me during office hours. I will share generic questions that could be of interest to all students at the beginning of our next live meetings. Lectures Lectures are on Wednesdays 2:00-5:001,2 , BA 22003 Lecture policies: All lectures will be live. The lecture content and discussion will be audio recorded. The recordings will only be accessible to me and course participants. Since these recordings are in part my intellectual property, and since others are involved, please do not share the recordings without my explicit permission. You are allowed to opt out of being recorded; if you wish to do this, let me know and I will accommodate you. Please observe basic standards of courtesy and respect for others. As this is a 4th year seminar, there will be 1 All course times are for Toronto time, which means Eastern Daylight Time (UTC/GMT -4 hours) In keeping with long-standing informal practice, all lectures will begin at 10 minutes after the hour. 3 In light of the changing public health situation in Ontario, we may have to shift between in-person meetings and online meetings for both lectures and office hours. So, in reality, the lectures will be either in BA 2200 or at the lecture zoom link in this document. 2 1 ample time for questions and discussion. In fact, questions, discussion, challenges, and clarifications are encouraged. Lecture Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88053652875 Office Hours Mondays 2:00-3:00, or by appointment. Location TBD. Office Hour Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82330108854 Course Website To access the main course website, login (with your UTORid and password) to Quercus (https://q.utoronto.ca) and select the page for COG403H1S. Please check the course website regularly for important announcements. This platform can run directly through your web browser, but you can download the application for a more seamless experience. Assignments, Grading, and Late Policy Your grade will be determined with the following 5 components: Participation Reading Responses (3 over the course of the term) Practical Phenomenology Assignment (due April 8) Discussion Leading (1 over the course of the term) Essay (due April 8) 15% 15% 10% 20% 40% On participation: Your participation grade will be primarily based on attendance and engagement with the issues raised in the course. I recognize that ability to participate publicly is influenced by many factors outside immediate conscious control. As such, there are many ways to participate in this course: by asking questions or making comments during lectures, engaging in active discussion with your peers, and engaging with me during office hours or by email. I recognize that participation grades are the most subjective component of your grade, and so I approach participation grades with a non-punitive mindset. On reading responses: The purpose of the reading responses is to get you to engage critically with specific course readings. You may choose three covering three different weeks of the term. I recommend not leaving all of them until the last three weeks. These responses are good opportunities to get early, low-stakes feedback on your writing. Each reading response will be about 500 words4 and will do two things. First, it will summarize the main point of the reading and the argument in the reading. Second, you will develop one critical point about the reading in some depth. Each component should take half of the reading response, but if you are pressed for space, emphasize the critical engagement over the summary. The reading 4 Read all word limits as ranges. So, 500 words is really 500 +/-10%, i.e., 450-550 words. This applies to all written assignments. 2 response is due on the Friday of the week for which the target reading is assigned. Please submit the reading responses on the Assignments tab on Quercus under the appropriate week for Reading Responses. On the practical phenomenology assignment: For the 12 weeks of this course, we will undergo a modified course of meditative training as a way of counterbalancing the abstract and theoretical discourse about perception, cognition, and consciousness. As this is a rather experimental assignment, we will devote some class time to discussing and refining this project. You will be assessed largely on the completion of a 12-week meditation journal. On discussion leading: Starting from the 3rd lecture (January 26), for one week of the term you will be part of a group of 3-4 people who will take on the burden of leading that week’s discussion. This will mean a brief 5-minute presentation, doing the reading carefully and coming in with some prepared material to discuss. This can be criticism, agreement, context, or points of unclarity in the reading. I would encourage you to meet with your fellow discussion leaders for the week and to compare notes and develop a strategy. On the essay: You will write one final essay in this course. It will be argumentative and relatively open-ended and related, at least indirectly, to the course content and course readings. I will have detailed instructions on how to approach these papers later in the term. Lateness and Extension Policy I am committed to a generous and compassionate extension policy. This means I will aim to make one-week extensions as hassle-free as possible. For longer extensions, it would help to be registered with Accessibility Services well ahead of time. Work will be counted late from the due date and will be penalized by dropping 3% per day, including weekends and holidays. I will not accept significantly late submissions of the short reading responses; if you cannot make the Friday deadline, try again next week. I will not accept work that is more than 1 week late except with an extension. If you need an extension for any major assignment, please contact me at least one week in advance. If you are contacting me less than a week before the deadline, please send me whatever rough work you may have for the assignment. Please note that there is a faculty deadline for the submission of term work is the last day of classes, April 8, 2022. Extensions beyond this deadline may be granted only if they do not interfere with the submission of grades. Otherwise, you must petition your College Registrar. Readings The course schedule section has a week-by-week listing of all the required readings. Every reading is available for free online. The general purpose of the readings is twofold: (1) to fill out your background knowledge vis-a-vis the lecture, and (2) to provide avenues for further reading, thinking, and argumentation. Readings are an integral part of this course. You are expected to have done the readings ahead of time for the relevant lecture. There are no other required readings, and there are no physical books to purchase. Each week also has supplementary readings which are not required but may greatly enhance your course experience and may serve you as useful starting points in essay research. 3 Schedule of Topics, Readings, and Assignments Week 1 January 10 The Foundations of Third-Generation Cognitive Science Required readings: Clark, A. (2013). Whatever next? Predictive brains, situated agents, and the future of cognitive science. Behavioral and brain sciences, 36(3), 181-204. Mann, S. F., Pain, R., & Kirchhoff, M. (2021). Free Energy: A User's Guide. Supplementary readings: Andrews, M. (2021). The math is not the territory: navigating the free energy principle. Biology & Philosophy, 36(3), 1-19. Wiese, W., & Metzinger, T. (2017). Vanilla PP for philosophers: A primer on predictive processing. Week 2 January 17 Cognition, Biology, and the Free Energy Principle Required reading: Kiverstein, J., & Sims, M. (2021). Is free-energy minimisation the mark of the cognitive?. Biology & Philosophy, 36(2), 1-27. Supplementary reading: Di Paolo, E., Thompson, E., & Beer, R. D. (2021). Laying down a forking path: Incompatibilities between enaction and the free energy principle. Week 3 January 24 Representationalism, Anti-Representationalism, and the Free Energy Principle Required reading: Constant, A., Clark, A., & Friston, K. J. (2021). Representation wars: Enacting an armistice through active inference. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 3798. Supplementary reading: Hohwy, J. (2021). Conscious self-evidencing. Review of Philosophy and Psychology, 1-20. Facchin, M. (2021). Predictive processing and antirepresentationalism. Synthese, 199(3), 11609-11642. Week 4 January 31 Mechanism and Autonomy Required reading: Bich, L., & Bechtel, W. (2021). Mechanism, autonomy and biological explanation. Biology & Philosophy, 36(6), 1-27. Supplementary reading: Mossio, M., & Bich, L. (2017). What makes biological organisation teleological?. Synthese, 194(4), 1089-1114. Week 5 February 7 Teleology and Intentionality Required reading: Fulda, F. C. (2020). Biopsychism: life between computation and cognition. Interdisciplinary Science Reviews, 45(3), 315-330. 4 Supplementary reading: Sims, M. (2021). A continuum of intentionality: linking the biogenic and anthropogenic approaches to cognition. Biology & Philosophy, 36(6), 1-31. Week 6 February 14 Perception and Cognition I Required reading: Nes, A., Sundberg, K., & Watzl, S. (2021). The perception/cognition distinction. Inquiry, 1-31. Supplementary reading: Fingelkurts, A. A., Fingelkurts, A. A., & Kallio-Tamminen, T. (2021). Self, Me and I in the repertoire of spontaneously occurring altered states of Selfhood: eight neurophenomenological case study reports. Cognitive Neurodynamics, 1-28. Ø February 21 is Family Day – University Closed Ø February 22-25 is Reading Week – No Classes Week 7 February 28 Perception and Cognition II Required reading: Burge, T. (2009). Primitive agency and natural norms. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 79(2), 251-278. Week 8 March 7 Consciousness and the Free Energy Principle Required reading: Deane, G. (2021). Consciousness in active inference: Deep self-models, other minds, and the challenge of psychedelic-induced ego-dissolution. Neuroscience of Consciousness, 2021(2), niab024. Week 9 March 14 Consciousness and Cognition: Cross-Cultural Takes I Required reading: McKinney, J. (2021). The Philosopher’s Path to San José: Toward a Cross-Cultural Radical Embodied Cognitive Science. Humanities Center Booklet, (9), 40-72. Week 10 March 21 Consciousness and Cognition: Cross-Cultural Takes II Required reading: Smith, S. M. (2020). A Pāli Buddhist Philosophy of Sentience: Reflections on Bhavaṅga Citta. Sophia, 59(3), 457-488. Supplementary readings: Smith, S. (2021). Buddhist Modernism, Scientific Explanation, and the Self. Comparative Philosophy, 12(1), 13. Week 11 March 28 Consciousness and Cognition: Cross-Cultural Takes III Required reading: Bruya, B. (2015). Action without Agency and Natural Human Action: Resolving a Double Paradox. The Philosophical Challenge from China, 339. 5 Supplementary reading: Bruya, B. J. (2010). The rehabilitation of spontaneity: A new approach in philosophy of action. Philosophy East and West, 207-250. Week 12 April 4 Course Wrap-Up Required reading: None! Ø Final Essay Due – April 8 Ø Practical Phenomenology Assignment Due – April 8 Information Security If you are a citizen of another country, and/or accessing your courses at the University of Toronto from a jurisdiction outside of Canada, please note that you may be subject to the laws of the country in which you are residing, or any country of which you have citizenship. The University of Toronto has a long-established commitment to freedom of expression, with this right enabled by an environment valuing respect, diversity, and inclusion. In this and your other courses, you may be assigned readings or discuss topics that are against the law in other jurisdictions. You are encouraged to become familiar with any local laws that may apply to you and any potential impact on you if course content and information could be considered illegal, controversial, or politically sensitive. If you have any concerns about these issues, please contact me for discussion. Academic Honesty The University of Toronto takes academic integrity very seriously, and there are significant consequences if you are caught cheating or engaging in academic misconduct. Academic integrity is a fundamental value of learning and scholarship at the UofT. Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in this academic community ensures that your UofT degree is valued and respected as a true signifier of your individual academic achievement. The University of Toronto’s Code of Behaviour on Academic Matters (https://governingcouncil.utoronto.ca/secretariat/policies/code-behaviour-academic-matters-july1-2019) outlines the behaviours that constitute academic misconduct, the processes for addressing academic offences, and the penalties that may be imposed. You are expected to be familiar with the contents of this document. All suspected cases of academic dishonesty will be investigated following the procedures outlined in the Code. If you have any questions about what is or is not permitted in this course, please do not hesitate to contact me. Potential offences include, but are not limited to: In papers and assignments: • Using someone else’s ideas or words without appropriate acknowledgement. • Submitting your own work in more than one course without the permission of the instructor. • Making up sources or facts. 6 • Obtaining or providing unauthorized assistance on any assignment (this includes working in groups on assignments that are supposed to be individual work). You can help friends by discussing your ideas together and comparing your notes from lectures, but all written work must be completed on your own. General misrepresentation: • Falsifying or altering any documentation required by the University • Falsifying institutional documents or grades. If you are unsure whether something constitutes plagiarism, please ask. You can find help with your assigned work by seeing me in office hours or taking advantage of the many resources available within the university. In particular, I urge you to visit the Office of Student Academic Integrity’s website (http://www.artsci.utoronto.ca/osai/students), where you can find useful information on how to avoid plagiarism, and the Writing Centre’s website (http://writing.utoronto.ca), where you can find further tips on how to cite work properly. I have also posted several handouts with more information on plagiarism and academic honesty under the Administrative Details module on Quercus. Accessibility Students with diverse learning styles and needs are welcome in this course. If you have an acute or ongoing disability issue or accommodation need, you should register with Accessibility Services (AS) (accessibility.utoronto.ca) at the beginning of the academic year. Without registration, you will not be able to verify your situation with your instructors, and instructors will not be advised about your accommodation needs. AS will assess your medical situation, develop an accommodation plan with you, and support you in requesting accommodation for your course work. Remember that the process of accommodation is private: AS will not share details of your condition with any instructor, and your instructors will not reveal that you are registered with AS. There may be times when you are unable to complete course work on time due to non-medical reasons. If you have concerns, speak to me. It is also a very good idea to speak with an advisor in your College Registrar’s office; they can support you in requesting extensions or accommodations, and, importantly, connect you with other resources on campus for help with your situation. Course Code of Conduct I will not tolerate discrimination or harassment in any of its forms, whether overt, subtle, or systemic. The university classroom has many diverse individuals with different sensitivities, passions, worldviews, and who bear the weight of diverse historical struggles. No one should have their ability to participate in class discussion hampered by any of these. In this course we will frequently encounter ideas and topics that are sensitive and possibly inflammatory. I expect all of us to approach sensitive issues with care and respect. Some issues we discuss may lead to heated debate. However, heated debate and harassment are quite different. In general, the way to conduct a heated debate with care is to focus on the ideas and not on people. Of course, there are gray areas when specific issues are before us. In those situations, it is my responsibility to intervene appropriately. 7 For many reasons, we all have flaws in how we behave or how we size up situations and their meaning to others. If you think I have missed something important in the way our class runs, please let me know. I welcome the opportunity to improve my teaching practices. 8