PHIL 306: Philosophy of Mind Fall 2016, MWF, 8:35—9:25, Currie 408/9 (Note: Conferences will replace the Friday lecture starting the week of Sep 12-16) Instructor: Robert Stephens Email:
[email protected] Office: LEA916 Office hrs: Fridays 13:00-15:00, or by appointment Teaching assistants: Karina Vold Andre Martin
[email protected] [email protected] Introduction: In this course, we will examine some of the major questions concerning the nature and functioning of the mind, as discussed in contemporary philosophy and cognitive science. What exactly is a mind? Where is it located? What is it composed of? How is it organized? How does it work? What are its limitations? We will look at a number of theories that attempt to answer various aspects of these questions, and we will zero in on a number of current philosophical debates that have grown out of and intertwined with these discussions. Some of the specific issues we will encounter include: o Is the mind something physical or not? Is my mind simply my brain? Or is it a product of my brain? Or is it something more than my physical brain? o Where does the mind fit into our scientific understanding of ourselves and our world? o What is the relationship between mind and behavior? How does mental causation work? o Do minds require brains? Or could there be many different sorts of minds? Artificial minds? o What is required for thinking? Language? Perception? Memory? Sensation? o Is the mind like a sort of computer? Or is that a misleading metaphor? o What are the different sorts of mental states? What characterizes and/or constitutes them? o What are concepts? How are they formed? How are they stored? How are they accessed? o How do we explain consciousness? Is consciousness necessarily subjective? o What role does the body play in the composition of mind? What about the environment? o What can delusions and other pathological mental states teach us about the nature of mind? Course Requirements: The reading load in this course is fairly demanding.