Philosophy of Mind
PHL 462
Fall 2007

PHL 462 Home | General Information |  Schedule | Assignments | Resources | On-Line Papers

Class Schedule

Week 1: Descartes’ Picture: Self Knowledge, Automatons, and Dualism

8/28 Introduction to Philosophy of Mind

8/30 René Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy, I & II (ANGEL)

René Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy, VI, section 3, pp. 7-12 (ANGEL)

Week 2: Dismantling Descartes’ Picture: Behaviorism

9/4 Gilbert Ryle, Descartes Myth (ANGEL)

9/6 John Dupre, The Mental Life of Nonhuman Animals (CP)
Supplemental Reading: Ravenscroft (pp. 25-38)

Week 3: Dismantling Descartes’ Picture: Self and Body

9/11 Paul Broks, Soul in a Bucket (pp. 42-56)
Paul Broks, I think Therefore I Am Dead (pp. 89-104)

9/13 Andy Clark and David Chalmers, The Extended Mind (ANGEL)

Week 4: Dualism Reconsidered

9/18 W. D. Hart, An Argument for Dualism (CP)

9/20 Class Debate: Dualism vs. Physicalism
Supplemental Reading: Ravenscroft (pp. 9-24)

Week 5: Alternatives to Dualism: The Identity Theory, Functionalism

9/25 J. J. C. Smart, Sensations and Brain Processes (ANGEL)
9/27 Jerry Fodor, The Mind-Body Problem (CP)
Supplemental Reading: Ravenscroft (39-63)
First Exam Handed Out

Week 6: Functionalism cont.

10/2 David Lewis, Mad Pain and Martian Pain (CP)
10/4 Ned Block, Troubles with Functionalism (ANGEL)
First Exam Due

Week 7: Nonreductive Physicalism

10/9 Donald Davidson, Mental Events (CP)

10/11 Jerry Fodor, Special Sciences, or the Disunity of Science as a Working Hypothesis (CP)

Supplemental Reading: Ravenscroft (117-124)

Week 8: A Dilemma for Physicalists? Reduction or Elimination

10/ 16 Jaegwon Kim, The Myth of Nonreductive Physicalism (CP)

10/18 Paul Churchland, Eliminative Materialism and the Propositional Attitudes (ANGEL)

Week 9: Alternatives to Mental Realism

10/23 Lynne Rudder Baker, Cognitive Suicide (ANGEL)

10/25 Daniel Dennett, True Believers: The Intentional Strategy and Why it Works (CP)

Supplemental Reading: Ravenscroft (pp. 54-67)
Second Exam Handed Out

Week 10: Consciousness: The Knowledge Argument

10/30 Frank Jackson, Epiphenomenal Qualia (ANGEL)

11/1 Terence Horgan, Jackson on Physical Information and Qualia (ANGEL)
Supplemental Reading: Ravenscroft (pp. 171-179)
Second Exam Due

Week 11: Consciousness: The Hard Problem

11/ 6 David Chalmers, Facing Up to the Problem of Consciousness (ANGEL)

11/8 Patricia Churchland, The Hornswoggle Problem (ANGEL)
Supplemental Reading: Ravenscroft (159-170)

Week 12: Consciousness: Subjectivity 

11/13 Thomas Nagel, The Incompleteness of Objective Reality (CP)

11/15 Class Debate: The Challenge of Consciousness

Week 13: Self Identity: Neuropsychology

11/20 Paul Broks, Voodoo Child (pp. 181-195)
Paul Broks, Out of Darkness Cometh Light (pp. 200-203)

11/22 Thanksgiving
Read Paul Broks, To Be Two or Not to Be (pp. 204-225)

Week 14: Self Identity: Thought Experiments

11/27 Bernard Williams, The Self and the Future (ANGEL)

11/29 Derek Parfit, Divided Minds and the Nature of Persons (ANGEL)

Week 15: Self as Narrative

12/4 Daniel Dennett, The Self as a Center of Narrative Gravity (ANGEL)

12/6 Galen Strawson, Against Narrative (ANGEL)

Final Paper/Exam Due: Wednesday, December 12^th

Honors Option: Any honors student who is interested in receiving an honors option for this class can do so by completing 8 two page “reaction papers”. One page should be devoted to summarizing the article and the other page to commenting on the article. Reaction papers are due in-class (or by e-mail) on the day that we are scheduled to read the paper. You must be in class to turn in a reaction paper. Graduate Students should also turn in 8 reaction papers!!