What is a Mind?

Online Course

Future Learn
What is a Mind?

What is the course about?

What is a Mind?
The course What is a Mind? is an online class provided by University of Cape Town through Future Learn. It may be possible to receive a verified certification or use the course to prepare for a degree.

Explore the most pertinent scientific and philosophical concepts for understanding our own minds with this free online course

Course description
  • 6 weeks
  • This free online course will bring together learners and practitioners interested in how the mind works. It aims to build bridges between traditionally antagonistic approaches to understanding the mind.
  • What is a mind?
  • This question has perplexed philosophers, scientists, historians and ordinary people across time and cultures.
  • While advances in the medical understanding of how the brain functions can shed light on neurological functions and disorders, the essential question of what the mind is speaks to a different problem.
  • This problem cannot be answered by a purely scientific understanding of the brain, nor by a purely philosophical or psychological approach. Many disciplines have attempted to address the question, resulting in multiple and sometimes antithetical answers.
  • New understandings of the mind
  • On this course, Professor Mark Solms, Chair of Neuropsychology at the University of Cape Town, will adopt a multidisciplinary approach.
  • He will bring in perspectives from a range of disciplines, to explore four specific aspects of the mind- subjectivity, intentionality, consciousness and agency. Together, these will help us think about the fundamental questions: what it is to be a mind, why we have a mind and what it feels like to have a mind.
  • You can find out more in Professor Mark Solms’s posts for the FutureLearn blog: “What is a mind? One of the great mysteries of our time” and “Thinking and feeling: what’s the difference?”
  • Understanding the Mind
  • Subjectivity
  • Consciousness
  • Intentionality and the Unconscious
  • Agency
  • Changing the Mind
  • Explore scientific and philosophical concepts for understanding our own minds.
  • Discuss four aspects of the mind, namely subjectivity, intentionality, consciousness and agency.
  • Reflect on what it is to be a mind, why we have a mind and what it feels like to have a mind.
  • This course is aimed at anyone with an interest in psychology and the mind. The course will also appeal to practitioners, students and researchers from a range of disciplines, whose work directly or indirectly looks at the mind and the brain. This includes, but is not limited to neuroscience, psychology, psychoanalysis, philosophy, psychiatry and neurology.
  • University of Cape Town
  • The University of Cape Town is one of the leading higher education and research institutions on the African continent and has a tradition of academic excellence that is respected worldwide.

Prerequisites & Facts

What is a Mind?

Course Topic

Psychology, Psychology & Mental Health

University, College, Institution

University of Cape Town

Course Skill Level

Course Language

English

Place of class

Online, self-paced (see curriculum for more information)

Degree

Certificate

Degree & Cost

What is a Mind?

To obtain a verified certificate from Future Learn / University of Cape Town you have to finish this course or the latest version of it, if there is a new edition. The class may be free of charge, but there could be some cost to receive a verified certificate or to access the learning materials. The specifics of the course may have been changed, please consult the provider to get the latest quotes and news.
University of Cape Town
What is a Mind?
provided by Future Learn

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What is a Mind?
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School: University of Cape Town
Topic: Psychology, Psychology & Mental Health