| Description: |
In this course we will explore a variety of issues raised in connection with the evolutionary history of the mind and evolutionary function of cognition. We will begin by considering leading hypotheses that have been offered regarding the evolutionary function(s) of cognition generally, and we will seek to evaluate these in connection with recent work on infants and non-human primates exploring the phylogenetic history and developmental trajectory of various aspects of human cognition. We will also use this recent work to investigate which aspects of our cognition are and are not unique to human beings, and in particular, whether non-human primates have a theory of mind. In the course of this examination we will consider primatologist Michael Tomasello?s recent book-length defense of his claim that it is cultural evolution and our adaptations to it that are responsible for the distinctively human aspects of cognition. |