Kant & Cognitive Sciences

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@jeeprs,

jeeprs;131350 wrote:

So it would seem to me that Kant's general idea about the nature of knowledge has been vindicated rather than undermined by subsequent science.

I agree. Thanks for the post.

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@jeeprs,

jeeprs;131350 wrote:

According to evolutionary biology, homo sapiens is the result of several billion years of evolution.
.....
So it would seem to me that Kant's general idea about the nature of knowledge has been vindicated rather than undermined by subsequent science.

I am interested to know about any particular books or writers on the cognitive science aspects, suitable for a non-specialist reader. I have Robert Ornstein's The Evolution of Consciousness, which seems quite good. Also have been reading from Steve Pinkers The Blank Slate.

Any other input, criticisms, comments, welcome. I am gradually absorbing more of Immanuel Kant - I have the Paul Guyer 'Kant' and am working through that.

I agree with the above.
In the exploration of reality, Kant did a Copernican revolution by turning the focus from that of external reality to the inner mind of the observer.

Some claimed he was the godfather of intellectual cognitive science.
Note.
http://http-server.carleton.ca/~abrook/papers/2003-KantCogSci-Teleskop.pdf
I agree with that and i am now putting some extra effort to get a better grasp of Kant's ideas.

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@Humanity,

What you say here Jeeprs is very close to the concept of panpsychism. That primitive qualities or components of mind are inherent and pervasive in nature. That human consciousness in not an emergent property of a primarily material reality but a combination of more primitive mental properties into a complex integrated organized society that yields what we call "human consciousness". That much mental activity including "decision making" occurs at a level below conscious perception. That human consciousness is not a difference in kind but a difference in degree. The best single source for the history of this concept is the book listed below. It should be noted the notion that there was some kind of rational intelligence behind the universe and embedded in nature has been the dominant belief in almost all of human history until the very recent "modern age of reason and science". It is perhaps one of the most significant pieces of ancient wisdom that has been temporarily lost.

David Skrbina:Panpsychism in the WestDavid Skrbina, Panpsychism in the West, MIT Press, 2005, 336pp, $35.00 (hbk), ISBN 0262195224.

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@jeeprs,

thanks to all of you! I wrote that original piece above in about 2007 on my own blog, and then edited it here. It sounded familiar, and then I realized it was because basically I had absorbed something about Kant, even though I have never formally studied him, and he is very challenging to read. Thanks to Humanity (boy it's great to be able to say that!) for the great paper from Andrew Brook, it is exactly what I was looking for. I shall look into the Skrbina book too.

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@jeeprs,

There are studies that suggest that the mind "pre-forms" objects of cognition some milliseconds before the actual object is completely "seen," suggesting that this is the result of evolutionary changes to provide "advance notice" about threats and allow more time to avoid them.

It is an open question how either the self or outside occasions are seen, and how the mind learns to form objects out of a bundle of triggering sense-impressions. There seems to be a lot of interesting current investigations about how much of reality is socially constructed.

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@jgweed,

The Charlie Rose is continuing to conduct interview/discussions with brain researchers. The latest show (which I think you can see on you tube) had researchers presenting research on this topic.

One of the folks was doing research with small children with an eye to when they become logical (so to speak.) Her conclusion was that as early as a baby can be tested, they appear to share our way of understanding reality.

For names, I think the Charlie Rose website might be the quickest way.

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