Linguistics lecturer Kenny Smith and philosophy lecturer Suilin Lavalle explore the evolution of human brains

Philosophers and psychologists have long pondered over the inner workings of the human mind.

One of their biggest questions is: how do we know what we know? Is all our knowledge learned or is there some knowledge that we are born with?

As part of the free online course “Philosophy and the Sciences” offered by the University of Edinburgh through the online learning platform, Coursera, Kenny Smith and Suilin Lavalle created a series of short videos that explore these questions.
Free online courses – Philosophy and the Sciences

In this series, Kenny and Suilin delve into this idea of learned versus innate knowledge and skills:

About Suilin Lavelle and Kenny Smith

Suilin Lavelle is a Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh. Her research interests include the philosophy of psychology, cognitive science and moral psychology amongst other areas.

Kenny Smith is a Reader at the Centre for Language Evolution at the University of Edinburgh. He studies the evolution of language and the human capacity for language.