Philosophy of Mind

This course serves as an introduction to contemporary philosophy of mind. Topics include: mind/brain identity, artificial intelligence, extended minds, consciousness, emotions, paradox of fiction, illusionism, panpsychism, transformative experience, personal identity, Buddhist non-selves, and mind uploading.

Substance Dualism

Descartes: Principles of Philosophy (§1-4, 7-9, 53, 60)

Kim: "Substance Dualism" 

Epiphenomenalism

Descartes: Selections from Discourse on Method

Huxley: "On the Hypothesis that Animals are Automata, and its History"

Logical Behaviorism

Ryle: "Descartes' Myth"

Hempel: "Logical Analysis of Psychology"

Identity Theory

Smart: "Sensations and Brain Processes"

Armstrong: "The Nature of Mind"

Eliminative Materialism

Feyeraband: "Materialism and the Mind-Body Problem"

Rorty: "Mind-Body Identity, Privacy, and Categories"

Churchland: "Eliminative Materialism" and "Eliminative Materialism and the Propositional Attitudes" 

Artificial Intelligence

Turing: "Computing Machinery and Intelligence"

Functionalism

Putnam: "Minds and Machines" and "The Nature of Mental States"

Challenge to Functionalism

Searle: "Minds, Brains, and Programs"

Active Externalism

Clark and Chalmers: "The Extended Mind"

FIRST EXAM

Emotions I: Feeling Theory

James: "What is an Emotion?"

Pitcher: "Emotion" (326-331)

Emotions II: Cognitivism 

Pitcher: "Emotion" (331-342)

Emotions III: Paradox of Fiction

Radford: "How Can We Be Moved by the Fate of Anna Karenina?"

Qualia

Nagel: "What is it Like to be a Bat?"

Godfrey-Smith: "On Being an Octopus"

Knowledge Argument

Jackson: "Epiphenomenal Qualia"

Transformative Experience

Paul: "Becoming a Vampire" and "What You Can't Expect when You're Expecting"

Modal Argument

Arnauld: "Fourth Set of Objections"

Gertler: "In Defense of Mind-Body Dualism"

Explanatory Gap

Kripke: "Identity and Necessity"

Levine: "Materialism and Qualia"

The Hard Problem 

Chalmers: "Consciousness and Its Place in Nature"

SECOND EXAM

Essential Dennett

Dennett: "Where Am I?"

Buddhist Selves

Siderits: "Non-Self: Empty Persons"

Humean Selves

Hume: "Of Personal Identity" and "Second Thoughts"

Perry's Heavenly Dialogue

Perry: A Dialogue on Personal Identity and Immortality ("First and Second Nights")

Lockean Selves

Shoemaker: "Personal IdentiThe Hard Problem 

Chalmers: "Consciousness and Its Place in Nature"ty: A Materialist Account"

Survival

Parfit: "Personal Identity" 

Mind Uploading

Chalmers: "Uploading: A Philosophical Analysis"

Virtual Worlds

Chalmers: "Matrix as Metaphysics"

THIRD EXAM