• Clinical Psychological Science
• Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Cognitive Neuroscience/Neuroimaging
  • Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience
  • History, Philosophy and Teaching
    • Staff
• Work and Social Psychology
• Neuropsychology and Psychopharmacology
• PhD programmes
• M-BIC (Maastricht Brain Imaging Center)
• Received grants since 2002
• Services for researchers

History, Philosophy and Teaching

The section History, Philosophy and Teaching is mainly a teaching section. The section is responsible for teaching history of psychology, philosophy of science, psychology of consciousness in the bachelor’s programme of our faculty. Members of the section teach philosophy of consciousness and the theory of evolution in the electives programme and genetics, logic, philosophy and psychology of consciousness in the honours programme. They contribute to the research master’s programme Cognitive Neuroscience/Neuroimaging with the course ‘Neurocorrelates of Consciousness’.

The main research topics of the section are conceptual analysis of the foundations of psychology and biology, and inquiry into the relationship between philosophical and empirical theories of consciousness.

The first activity is especially focused on analyzing concepts like ‘function’ in psychology and biology. Questions like ‘Do we need the concept function or purpose in biology and psychology?’ or ‘Are those concepts reducible to more elementary non-functional concepts?’ are important research subjects.

The second activity, the philosophical inquiry into consciousness, is tightly related to modern cognitive neuroscience of consciousness. Questions about philosophical constraints on the interpretation of neuroscientific data about consciousness, and questions about the consequences of scientific, empirical data and theories for philosophical positions on the mind-body problem and the problem of free will are some of the themes the section is interested in.

Staff