Papers for Consciousness class are due April 24.
You are to write a 5-7 page paper taking a position on some topic relevant to the course. (That’s 5-7 double-spaced, single-sided, some standard font, standard margins, etc.; we won’t count, and these are rough guidelines, and every paper needs what it needs, but do try not to go too far above or below.) You should have not just a topic but a thesis: a particular claim you’re trying to establish. Pick one that can be responsibly dealt with in this relatively short span. Take your audience to be an educated person who doesn’t necessarily have any deep knowledge of the more abstruse corners of physics, neuroscience, and/or philosophy. You’ll want to define unfamiliar terms, in part so your reader will know what you’re meaning by them, but you should spend most of your time articulating and defending your thesis. Anticipate and answer objections.
Draw on anything you know that’s relevant. You’re not expected to do any reading beyond what’s on the syllabus, but you’re welcome to do so. Be careful to cite anything that isn’t common knowledge, but feel free to use whatever system of citation you like. If you cite materials that weren’t assigned by us, make sure we can track them down.
Here are some sample topics, to get you started, but you should write about whatever is of most interest to you (provided it’s relevant to the course).
Again, pursue what interests you. We don’t expect you to solve the problem of consciousness, but we do want to see that you’ve done some thinking about these issues and that you have some grip on the material we’ve assigned. You’re strongly advised to keep fairly close to the readings and discussions and not “go rogue,” trying to solve the problem of consciousness from a whole new angle. Situating your discussion against an existing debate will constrain you in useful ways.