Macquarie Philosophy Seminar Series Friday September 16 1.30-3.30 W6A Room 708
Richard Menary (Macquarie Philosophy and CCD) The Enculturated Brain Humans have only very recently (in evolutionary terms) developed writing systems for language and mathematics. The abilities to read and write and perform complex mathematical calculations are not evolutionary endowments. There are no neural circuits that have evolved specifically for reading and writing and there is no neural module for algebra; yet humans are capable of learning to read and write and solve algebraic equations. How is this possible? In this paper I begin to assemble a model of how the enculturation of the brain gives rise to a transformed set of cognitive systems that make reading, writing and mathematical cognition possible. I will focus primarily on examples of mathematical cognition and I will draw upon: recent work on phenotypic plasticity and niche construction from biology (Odling-Smee et al. 2003, Sterelny 2003); work on the exaptation of neural circuitry from neuroscience (Dehaene 2007, Anderson 2010); and the transformation of cognitive capacities in development from my own work on integrated cognitive systems (Menary 2007, 2010). _______________________________________________ SydPhil mailing list: http://sydphil.info 1000 subscribers now served!! To UNSUBSCRIBE, change your MEMBERSHIP OPTIONS, find ANSWERS TO COMMON PROBLEMS, or visit our ONLINE ARCHIVES, please go to the LIST INFORMATION PAGE: http://sydphil.info
