Philosophy of Mind

Spring 2014

From Descarte's The World

Descartes explains how the eyes can focus on a nearby object. From Stephen Gaukroger (Ed), The World and Other Writings, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2004, p. 158.

Details | Instructor | Overview | Textbook | Assessment | Schedule

Details

Course CodesLocation Times
PHL 244, PHL 244W, PHL 444Dewey Hall 2110DTuesdays and Thursdays, 12:30pm to 1:45pm

Instructor

NameEmailOfficeConsultation Times
Brad Weslakebradley.weslake@rochester.edu520 LattimoreWednesdays 11am–12pm, or by appointment

Overview

This course is an overview of the recent history of philosophy of mind, focusing on the relationship between the mind and the physical world. The aim is to trace through some of the central debates in this history, and to assess where we stand today. Topics covered include the question of how to formulate physicalism about the mind; an examination of behaviourism, the identity theory, and functionalist theories of the mind; the prospects for integrating consciousness and mental content within a physicalist worldview; and the problem of mental causation. The course may be taken for upper level writing credit.

Textbook

Assessment

Requirements:

The final grade will be determined approximately as follows:

Reading Summaries: 15%
First Research Paper: 35%
Second Research Paper: 50%

Note: Graduate students or students enrolled for upper level writing credit will be required to write longer papers. Graduate students will also be required to do additional reading and meet for an additional discussion section.

Due dates:

Reading Summaries: At each associated class, with no exceptions
First Paper: Thursday 6 MarchQuestions [PDF]
Second Paper: Friday 2 MayQuestions [PDF]

Paper guidelines [PDF]

Schedule

Meeting One: Introductory Discussion (Thursday 16 January)

Secondary

Meeting Two: The Mark of The Mental (Tuesday 21 January)

Primary
Secondary

Meeting Three: Defining Physicalism (Thursday 23 January)

Primary
Secondary

Meeting Four: Epistemological Arguments for Dualism (Tuesday 28 January)

Primary

Meeting Five: Causal Arguments against Dualism (Thursday 30 January)

Primary
Secondary

No Class Tuesday 4 February

Meeting Six: Behaviourism (Thursday 6 February)

Primary

Meeting Seven: Simplicity Arguments for The Identity Theory (Tuesday 11 February)

Primary

Meeting Eight: Causal Arguments for The Identity Theory (Thursday 13 February)

Primary

Meeting Nine: Multiple Realisation Arguments Against The Identity Theory (Tuesday 18 February)

Primary
Secondary

Meeting Ten: Machine Functionalism (Thursday 20 February)

Primary
Secondary

Meeting Eleven: The Chinese Room (Tuesday 25 February)

Primary

No Class Thursday 27 February

Meeting Twelve: More on Functionalism and The Chinese Room (Tuesday 4 March)

Primary

Meeting Thirteen: Functionalism and Mental Causation (Thursday 6 March)

Primary
Secondary

No Class Tuesday 11 March and Thursday 13 March

Meeting Fourteen: Anomalous Monism (Tuesday 18 March)

Primary
Secondary

Meeting Fifteen: The Exclusion Argument (Thursday 20 March)

Primary
Secondary

Meeting Sixteen: More on The Exclusion Argument (Tuesday 25 March)

Primary

Meeting Seventeen: Theories of Content (Thursday 27 March)

Primary

Meeting Eighteen: Content Externalism (Tuesday 1 April)

Primary
Secondary

Meeting Nineteen: Content Externalism and Mental Causation Thursday 3 April)

Primary

Meeting Twenty: Science and Consciousness (Tuesday 8 April)

Primary
Secondary

Meeting Twenty One: What Is It Like to be a Bat? (Thursday 10 April)

Primary

No Class Tuesday Tuesday 15 April

Meeting Twenty Two: Can Science Tell Us What It Is Like to be a Bat? (Thursday 17 April)

Primary

Meeting Twenty Three: Two Kinds of Consciousness (Tuesday 22 April)

Primary
Secondary

Meeting Twenty Four: Representationalism (Thursday 24 April)

Primary

Meeting Twenty Five: The Knowledge Argument (Tuesday 29 April)

Primary

Updated: 18 April 2014