Michaelmas 2017 – Kinds of Intelligence reading list (archived)

Michaelmas Term 2017 (3 Oct–1 Dec)
Theme: Consciousness and intelligence: origins, varieties, and functions

21 September
Topic: Convergent minds
Powell, Mikhalevich, Logan, & Clayton (2017). Convergent minds: the evolution of cognitive complexity in nature
Supplementary Reading: Logan et al. (2017). Beyond Brain Size.

05 Oct
Topic: Why did consciousness evolve?
Feinberg and Mallatt (2017). The Ancient Origins of Consciousness. Chapters 1 & 10.
Supplementary Reading: Merker (2005). The liabilities of mobility: A selection pressure for the transition to consciousness in animal evolution

12 Oct
Topic: Other minds 1
Godfrey-Smith (2016). Other Minds, Chapters 1 and 4
Supplementary Reading: Cave (2017). What the octopus tells us about human intelligence

19 Oct
Topic: Other minds 2
Godfrey-Smith (2016). Other Minds, Chapters 6 and 7
Supplementary Reading: Halina (forthcoming). Octopuses as conscious exotica

26 Oct
Topic: From perceiving to thinking
Shevlin (in preparation). Perception, cognition, and categorization
Supplementary Reading: Carruthers (2009). Invertebrate concepts confront the generality constraint (and win)

2 Nov
Topic: Classifying kinds of learning
Dennett (1996). Kinds of Minds. Chapters 1 & 6.
Supplementary Reading: Godfrey-Smith (2017). Towers and Trees in Cognitive Evolution

09 Nov
Topic: Bacterial and plant cognition
Lyon (2005). The cognitive cell.
Supplementary Reading: Gagliano et al. (2016). Learning by Association in Plants.

16 Nov
Topic: Insect Consciousness
Barron & Klein (2016). What insects can tell us about the origins of consciousness
Supplementary Reading: Replies by Key, Arlinghaus, & Browman; Adamo; Schilling & Cruse (2016).

23 Nov
Topic: Theories of consciousness
Dehaene, Lau, & Kouider (2017). What is consciousness, and could machines have it?

Monday 27 Nov (Special Session), 11am-1pm
Venue: Imperial College London, 554 Huxley building (nearest tube South Kensington or Gloucester Road on the Piccadilly line from King’s Cross).
Topic: From biological to Artificial life
Orallo (2016). The Measure of All Minds: Evaluating Natural and Artificial Intelligence, Ch. 1, 2, and 18.
Lake et al (2016). Building machines that learn and think like people