Putting the Brain at the Heart of General Education in the Twenty-First Century: A Proposal

Abstract

A general education course is presented that would consider Western intellectual history from the brain's point of view. Although the sciences of the brain have developed rapidly only in recent decades, the figure of the brain as humanity's uniquely distinguishing organ has loomed large for centuries. The course, which is designed for a ten-week term and includes both books and films, is organized around signature contexts in which the brain has taken centre stage, such as ‘the mind of God’, ‘world brain’, ‘brainwashing’ and ‘brain in a vat’. The course description is accompanied by a justification that draws attention to the perennial and pervasive human desire to fixate on the brain, often as a means to transcend our default biological settings.