Kant and Cognitive Science

Abstract

In this paper I argue that while the dominant model of the mind in cognitive science is deeply Kantian, some ofKant’s most arresting ideas have not been assimilated into the contemporary picture. The Kantian elements in the contemporary picture are mainly these three: Representation requires both percepts and concepts, the study of cognition is based on inference to the best explanation (Kant called it transcendental argument), and the mind is a complex system of functions – minds are (part of ) what brains do. Three other important ideas of Kant’s have played little role: That unified consciousness is essential to our kind of cognition (beginning to change), that such unity is the result of concept-using synthesizing activities of the cognitive system, and that the knowledge that such a system has of itself has some highly specific and unusual features.