LING-UA 45 - Evolution of Intellectual Complexity

Institution:

New York University

Subject:

Description:

How do human perception, cognition, language, and communication relate to the abilities of animals, fossil records, anthropological and archaeological research, cave painting, and physiology? We broadly try to answer the following: What is a likely scenario for human evolution from animal origins? We argue (with Chomsky, Darwin, D'Arcy, Thompson, Turing, Lorenz, Gould) that evolution proceeds in large jumps (saltations) and that slow, gradual evolution via natural selection (per Pinker, Hauser, Fitch, Lieberman) cannot account for human cognitive evolution. Readings focus on original works by Darwin, Wallace, D'Arcy, Thompson, Freud, Chomsky, Galileo, and Pinker and include studies by zoologists, linguists, anthropologists, archaeologists, and psychologists.

Credits:

4.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.nyu.edu

Phone Number:

(212) 998-1212

Regional Accreditation:

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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