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

Abstract

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