The Human Mind and The Open Society: Political Intuitions

About

The notion of open society is an attempt to answer the question of how we can most effectively live together in large and modern environments. Yet our knowledge of how the mind works has advanced considerably since the notion of the open society was first developed. Especially over the past 30 or so years, it has become increasingly clear that human minds are not geared towards logic and problem solving, as, for instance, Karl Popper assumed. Humans do these things but they are not the essential functions of mind. Nor are human minds geared simply towards a simple utility calculus: we are not Homo economicus. What the modern sciences of the mind have revealed is the extent to which human psychology is geared towards effectiveness in a world of repeated interpersonal engagement. If we are ‘rational’, then we are rational in the mode of someone like Jürgen Habermas, who viewed humans as socially smart, critically- minded communicators.

The broad focus of this one-week, research-level course is political intuitions, and how they shape political outcomes. The nature and consequences of political intuitions are much debated within political science, they are rarely analyzed from overtly cognitive and evolutionary perspectives. This course shall address this lacuna, and connect it to the broader topic of how our understanding of the human mind, as a tool for navigating a richly social existence, can inform understanding and advocacy of open society, and the ideals it represents.

We have developed an innovative structure that mixes several different types of learning sessions, including but also going beyond traditional lectures and seminars. Students with a social science background will be exposed to research on the cognitive bases of citizens’ behaviour and interests. Reciprocally, students with a psychological background will see better how the individual phenomena they study—often in controlled, laboratory conditions—play out in society, and can either help or hinder the development of open societies.

Course leader

Thom Scott-Phillips (Research Affiliate, Department of Cognitive Science, Central European University) & Alexander Bor (Post-doctoral Researcher / CEU Visiting Faculty Member, CEU Democracy Institute)

Target group

The main target audience is PhD students and researchers in their first postdoctoral appointment. Exceptionally, we will consider MSc students. Most applications will come from psychology and neighboring fields, but some will be social scientists and philosophers. We are open to a wide variety of backgrounds.

Fee info