This course introduces students to various central
problems in the philosophy of mind, among them:
•
What is the relationship between a person's mind
and that person's body? Is a person’s mind
something “over and above” that person’s
body, or is it just a part or aspect of that person’s
physical body?
•
Can we even have a completely objective scientific
understanding of the mind? Which features of the
mind, if any, might resist complete scientific
investigation or description?
•
What can philosophy tell us about the mind that
science can't tell us?
•
Can computers think, or be intelligent, or experience
mental states of any kind? If so, what, if anything,
does this mean about our own minds? And if not,
why not—what exactly does a computer lack that makes it incapable of thought, intelligence,
or mentality?
•
Each one of us exists over time. We change over
time, but there obviously is some underlying constancy
or continuity that makes us the same person from
day to day and year to year. What is this underlying
constancy or continuity? Is it just continuity
of the body, or does psychological continuity have
something to do with it as well?
•
How can our experiences, thoughts, and beliefs
represent or be about, ordinary objects like tables,
birds, and toothbrushes?
To examine these questions,
we will draw on a variety of philosophical texts,
mainly drawn from the second
half of the twentieth century.
• David Braddon-Mitchell and Frank Jackson.
Philosophy of Mind and Cognition. Blackwell Publishers.
(ISBN: 0631191682 (paperback)) (price: $36.95)
•
John Perry, A Dialogue on Personal Identity
and Immortality Indianapolis: Hackett Publishers (ISBN:
0915144530(paperback)) (price: $5.95)
•
John Searle, Mind: A Brief Introduction New York:
Oxford University Press (ISBN: 9780195157346 (paperback)
(price: $16.95)
•
Electronic reserves
