Cognitive science

The idea that pure philosophical reflection can plumb the depths of human understanding is an illusion.

Cognitive science is the interdisciplinary study of mind and intelligence. It embraces philosophy, psychology, artificial intelligence, neuroscience, linguistics and anthropology. Cognitive science is a relatively young and developing science. Nevetheless, it has already had a fair share of influence on several fields, particularly in the humanities. There is even cognitive archaeology.

Origins
Cognitive science grew out of the "cognitive revolution" of the 1950s and 1960s that gave birth to the field of cognitive psychology. Cognitive psychology fused the theoretical approach of Gestalt psychology and early models of artificial intelligence with the experimental approach of behaviorism. Early cognitive psychology tended to ignore the physical brain itself, seeing it as a "black box", though this has changed with the proliferation of brain scanning technologies and the rise of cognitive neuroscience. "Cognitive science" as a term was coined shortly after "cognitive psychology" to refer to developments in machine learning and artificial intelligence, though it soon became an umbrella term for various cognitive approaches to fields as listed above, sometimes being referred to in the plural "the cognitive sciences" due to this.

Influential figures in cognitive science

 * &mdash; Incorporated studies of emotion and neurobiology into cognitive approaches.
 * and &mdash; Launched the study of cognitive biases.
 * Douglas Hofstadter &mdash; Philosophy of mind and artificial intelligence, especially the concept of emergence.
 * &mdash; Metaphor and linguistics. Known for developing an approach to philosophy of mind called "
 * &mdash; Machine learning, artificial intelligence, computer vision. Coined the term "cognitive science." Also a theoretical chemist.
 * &mdash; Applied concepts from computer science and behavioral research to a wide variety of fields, including psychology and economics. Coined the terms "bounded rationality" and "satisficing."
 * &mdash; Known for his work on modularity of mind and the language of thought.
 * Noam Chomsky &mdash; Known for challenging B.F. Skinner and behaviorist theories of mind.
 * &mdash; Memory and intelligence. Coined the term "cognitive psychology."
 * &mdash; Neuroscience of perception, synesthesia, and phantom limbs.
 * &mdash; Visual perception and levels of analysis.

Pseudoscience and skepticism
Since cognitive science focuses heavily on memory, sensory perception, learning, and rationality, research from the field has been adopted by proponents of scientific skepticism. Cognitive biases in particular have become a staple of skeptical writing. Some cognitive scientists and psychologists, such as Elizabeth Loftus, have worked directly with skeptical organizations. Cognitive scientists likewise have used studies of pseudoscience, folk conceptions of science, religion, and mysticism to draw conclusions about the working of the human mind. One new development is the, which de-emphasizes belief (because it cannot be objectively measured), and is able to explain paradoxes such as why an agnostic with musical training might join a church choir (but not tithe).

Two thousand years of Western thought overturned
A major philosophical approach to the mind and reality called embodied cognition, promoted by figures such as Lakoff and Margaret Wilson, has grown out of cognitive science. While acknowledging the usefulness of Western metaphysical thought since about the time of Socrates or so, Lakoff and his colleague Mark Johnson have this to say:

Cognitive scientists' broad definition of "cognition" asserts that 95% or more of it operates unconsciously: too rapidly and too far below the threshold of awareness for us to notice. If it were not so, we would hardly be able to move through the world, manipulate objects in it, or speak about anything at all. Empirical investigation of this unconscious cognition is, however, possible.