Course Description

What is the nature of the mind? This is the main question that will occupy us in this class. We will consider several answers, both historical and contemporary, that have been offered in response to this question, as well as the corollary questions: What is the nature of mental states and processes? What is the relationship between the mind and the body? These related topics are frequently referred to jointly as the Mind-Body Problem. Answering these questions will lead us to several others, among them: Can we accommodate the subjective character of experience within a scientific conception of the mind? Can “creatures” other than human beings have minds (and, more specifically, can a computer have a mind)? Is the mind a single, unified entity?

Course Texts

There is one book for this course available at Huntley Bookstore:

David Chalmers, ed., Philosophy of Mind: Classical and Contemporary Readings

There is also a Philosophy of Mind Coursepack available for purchase at the Bookstore. Both the book and the coursepack are required.

Course Requirements

Papers (70% total)

Early in the semester you will write a short paper, approximately 3 pages in length. This will be worth 10% of your course grade. Subsequently, you will write three longer paper, each approximately 5-6 pages in length. These will each be worth 20% of your course grade. All four of the papers will be on assigned topics distributed in class. Any papers suspected of violating the College’s policy on academic integrity will be forwarded to the Academic Standards Committee for review. If you have any questions about this policy, and how it applies to philosophical writing, please come see me. The expected due dates for the papers are as follows:

Paper #1 Tuesday, February 8 at the start of class

Paper #2 Thursday, March 3 at the start of class

Paper #3 Thursday, April 7 at the start of class

Paper #4 Thursday, April 28 at the start of class

Paper topics will be distributed about 10 days before the paper due date.

Exam (25%)

There will be an in-class final held on Monday, May 9 from 2 p.m. - 5 p.m. worth 25% of your grade.

Athenaeum lectures (5%)

On Wednesday, January 26 the philosopher Richard Hanley will be speaking at the Athenaeum. On Tuesday, April 12 the cyberneticist Kevin Warwick will be speaking at the Athenaeum. You are required to attend both of these lectures, and you will have to write brief reviews of both of them. Further details will be distributed in class.

Class participation

Attendance in class is required, as is attendance at the two Ath lectures mentioned above. Barring exceptional circumstances, you should not be absent from class more than two (maximum three) times over the course of the semester. However, it is not enough merely to attend; you must also come to class having read and thought carefully about the assigned readings so that you are prepared to take an active part in our discussions. In general, you should be consistently and thoughtfully participating in our class discussions. By “thoughtful” I mean to remind you that it is quality, and not mere quantity, that matters when it comes to class participation. Although class participation does not account for a pre-set percentage of your course grade, I reserve the right either to lower your course grade for inadequate participation or to raise your course grade for exceptional participation.

Note: All required work must be completed to receive a passing grade in the class.

Course Schedule

Readings marked (PM) are in Philosophy of Mind, edited by David Chalmers. Readings marked (CP) are in the Philosophy of Mind Coursepack.

The Lay of the Land

1/18 (CP) Brook & Stainton, Knowledge and Mind, pp. 63-90

Dualism

1/20 (CP) Descartes, excerpts from Meditations on First Philosophy

1/25 (CP) Brook & Stainton, Knowledge and Mind, pp. 103-117

1/27 handout – excerpt from Heil, “Descartes’ Legacy”

Behaviorism

2/1 (PM) Carnap, “Psychology in Physical Language”

2/3 (PM) Putnam, “Brains and Behavior”

The Identity Theory

2/8 (PM) Place, “Is Consciousness a Brain Process?”

2/10 (PM) Smart, “Brain Processes and Sensations”

Functionalism

2/15 (CP) Fodor, “The Mind-Body Problem”

(PM) Putnam, “The Nature of Mental States”

2/17 (PM) Block, “Troubles with Functionalism”

Eliminative Materialism

2/22 (PM) Churchland, “Eliminative Materialism and the Propositional Attitudes”

The Problem of Qualia

2/24 (PM) Nagel, “What is it like to be a bat?”

3/1 (PM) Jackson, “Epiphenomenal Qualia”

3/3 (PM) Lewis, “What Experience Teaches”

3/8 (PM) Dennett, “Quining Qualia”

3/10 (PM) Dennett, continued

SPRING BREAK

Can a computer think? How would we know if it did?

3/22 (CP) Turing, “Computing Machinery and Intelligence”

3/24 (CP) Turing, continued

3/29 (CP) Searle, “Minds, Brains and Programs”

3/31 (CP) Searle, Churchland and Churchland, “Artifical Intelligence: A Debate”

Mental Content

4/5 (PM) Dretske, “A Recipe for Thought”

4/7 (PM) Millikan, “Biosemantics”

Internalism/Externalism – Where is the Mind?

4/12 handouts on Kevin Warwick **Guest Lecture by Kevin Warwick

4/14 (PM) Putnam, “The Meaning of ‘Meaning’”

(PM) Burge, “Individualism and the Mental”

4/19 (PM) Chalmers and Clark, “The Extended Mind”

4/21 (CP) Excerpt from Clark, “Natural Born Cyborgs”

The Unity of the Mind

4/26 (CP) Thomas Nagel, “Brain Bisection and the Unity of Consciousness”

4/28 (CP) Kathleen Wilkes, “Being in Two Minds”

5/3 No Reading – Final Exam Review Session

Some Remarks About Our Study of Philosophy

Ø First of all, our primary goal is to think critically about the philosophical texts we are reading, and not simply to memorize certain facts about these philosophers and what they said. Thinking critically involves being able to form a position and to marshal considerations in support of it. As a result of our study, I want you to develop your own opinions about the philosophical issues we discuss, but more importantly, I want you to be able to present an intelligent case for those opinions.

Ø For this class, there are typically fewer assigned pages of reading per week than in a history or a literature course. This should not lead you to draw the conclusion that this class is easy! In fact, I expect you not only to read the texts carefully, but also to look at them with a critical eye, and this is hard work. Typically, you should be reading each assigned text at least twice, and ideally, three times. The first time you should read it through fairly quickly, to get a general sense of the author’s argument. On this read, you should not be concerned about taking notes. The second time you read the text, you should read it slowly and carefully. Attempt to figure out the specific arguments presented, and think of yourself as engaged in a debate with the author. In particular, for each argument the author gives, or point the author makes, you should ask yourself, “Is this right? How might one argue against this claim?” On this read, you should note places where you think the author’s argument is weak, or unclear. The third read-through will remind you again how the specific arguments/points fit together.

Ø If you’re having trouble with a text, the best thing to do is to come to office hours. Don’t think that I’ll be bothered if you come to me with a question; that’s what office hours are for. Usually I spend most of my office hours during the semester by myself, with things only getting busy when there is a paper due the next day. But it’s time that I set aside specifically for you, so please use it! Also, don’t feel that you have to have a perfectly well worked-out question in order to come talk to me. We can have a conversation about the text even if you’re just having a general “I don’t get it” feeling. If you cannot make my regularly scheduled office hours, get in touch with me (I’m very easy to reach by email), and we’ll see if we can make an appointment for another time.

Ø Philosophical writing is significantly different from typical writing in other disciplines (as you will no doubt realize once you start reading the assigned texts). When the first paper is assigned, I will give you a handout with guidelines for writing a philosophy paper. Follow the guidelines carefully. You are also strongly encouraged to come talk to me in office hours about your paper—we can discuss your outline, your argument, your rough draft, or anything else that might be helpful to you as you write your paper.

Ø One last word. I know that college students are under an enormous amount of pressure, and I want you to know that I understand that. In the past I have had some students make some bad decisions as a result of the pressure they were under (i.e., they handed in plagiarized work), and I really want to try to prevent that kind of situation from recurring. I do take deadlines seriously, but if you absolutely cannot hand an assignment in when it is due, come talk to me, and I’ll try to work something out with you.