This course will begin by discussing the problem of how mental phenomena fit into a physical universe. We will discuss the past century's most influential responses to the problem: behaviorism, the identity theory, and functionalism. We will then consider, in some detail, two main obstacles to a physicalist account of the mind: consciousness and mental content. For different reasons, both of these phenomena seem difficult to account for within a physicalist framework; we will look at attempts to accommodate them (and objections to the success of these attempts.) We will also consider some puzzles about the nature and possibility of mental causation, and also some issues about whether mental properties (and other "higher-level" properties) are reducible to physical properties, or whether they are "emergent" in some way. Once we have had an introductory look at all these topics, we will return to some of them in greater depth, as we read three recent books in the philosophy of mind.
Books
Jaegwon Kim, Philosophy of Mind, Second Edition (Westview, 2005)
Daniel Dennett, Sweet Dreams: Philosophical Obstacles to a Science of
Consciousness (MIT Press, 2006)
John Searle, Mind: A Brief Introduction (Oxford, 2005)
John Perry, Knowledge, Possibility, and Consciousness (MIT Press, 2003)
Office Hours
TR 8:30 - 10:30 AM; MW 4:00 - 5:00.
I am usually in my office during office hours, but occasionally a meeting or another commitment prevents this. If you just drop by during office hours, you will probably find me in; if you want to see me at another time, or if you want to be certain I'll be in, we can set up an appointment.
Requirements
1. There will be a mid-term examination on Wednesday, October 14. The mid-term will count 20% of the final grade.
2. A literature review is due Wednesday, October 21. This will count 15% of the final grade. Each member of the class will select a specific topic in the philosophy of mind, and will prepare a review of the literature on that topic to be posted to the TLEARN site for the class. The review will include an annotated bibliography including both book and journal sources. (Journals with full-text online access are fine but don't limit yourself to those.) It will also include a concise (say 4-5 pages) summary of some of the main interpretive debates and positions discussed in the literature. Topics will be chosen from a list I will distribute. (If you want to do something not on the list, you must clear the topic with me beforehand.) Each class member must select a different topic (first come, first served). Bibliographic references should be in MLA format; the library has a handy summary at http://lib.trinity.edu/research/citing/MLACitationStyle7thedition.pdf. The literature review must be turned in electronically; whether you also give me a hard copy is up to you. There are several mini-deadlines prior to the final due date for the project: see the handout on the literature review, http://www.trinity.edu/cbrown/mind/litReviewDescription.html, for more details. I will accept late literature reviews, but your grade will be reduced by a third of a grade (e.g., from a B to a B- or from a B- to a C+) for every week day it is late. The literature review must be turned in electronically; whether you also give me a hard copy is up to you.
3. One substantial paper, of 3000 - 4500 words (approximately 10-15 pages), is due on
Monday, November 23 Monday, November 30. The paper must include discussion of some of the readings for
the course; I will give you a longer handout about it later. I encourage you to
give me a rough draft as early as possible. The paper will count 25% of the
final grade. I will accept late papers, but the grade will be dropped a third of
a grade
(e.g., from a B to a B- or from a B- to a C+) for every week day the paper is
late. The paper must be turned in electronically; whether you also give
me a hard copy is up to you. I recommend turning in a draft of the paper by
Wednesday, November 4.
4. There will be a cumulative final exam. This is scheduled for Saturday, December 12, at 8:30 AM. It will count 25% of the final grade.
5. Attendance and participation will count 15% of the final grade. This portion of the grade will be based on attendance and participation in class and participation in class fora on the TLEARN site. In particular, every week before the class period begins on Wednesday, I will expect you to contribute (at least) one substantive posting to that week's online forum concerning the reading for that week (either Monday's or Wednesday's reading). Your principal objective in these postings should be to get clear about what is going on in the reading. This could involve explaining someone's argument, trying to figure out what he or she is arguing for, comparing one philosopher's views with those of another we have read, considering how the author might respond to possible questions, etc. Make sure you are responding to specific points in the reading, and use page numbers when referring to specific ideas or arguments in the text (so the rest of us can figure out precisely what you were referring to). In addition, every week, any time before midnight on Friday, I will expect you to contribute a response to at least one other student's posting in the relevant forum. Missing one required posting will not hurt your grade; after that, your participation grade will be reduced by one letter grade for each required posting you miss. (So if you miss two, the highest grade you can get on this portion of the final grade is a B; if you miss three, a C; etc.) Important note: Although in general participation counts 15% of the grade, excessive absence is grounds for a failing grade in the course, not just on this portion of the final grade.
Academic Integrity
You should make certain that you are familiar with the details of the Honor Code, which all Trinity students are now covered by. Students are required to pledge all written work that is submitted for a grade by writing, on the submitted work: “On my honor, I have neither given nor received any unauthorized assistance on this work,” followed by their signature. The pledge may be abbreviated “pledged” with a signature. If I suspect that the Honor Code has been violated, I am required to submit an allegation to the Honor Council, a student committee. After that, it is out of my hands: it is up to the Honor Council to determine whether a violation has occurred, and if so, what the penalty should be. The Honor Code prohibits faculty members from making their own determination, or even communicating about the allegation with the student involved. In my experience, the Honor Council has been at least as tough as I would have been on students found to have violated the code. For more details see the Honor Code web site.
You should be aware that I take academic integrity very seriously. Do not use any material verbatim that you did not write yourself unless you enclose it in quotation marks and give a citation to the source. (This goes for individual clauses as well as larger chunks of prose.) Do not use close paraphrases of material you did not write yourself, period. Be aware that plagiarism is easier to detect than you might think. Other actions that violate academic integrity, including turning in the same paper for more than one class, are listed at http://www.trinity.edu/departments/academic_affairs/honor_code/honor_code.htm.
Please remember that any use of material you did not write yourself, either word-for-word or in close paraphrase, is plagiarism. This is true even if the passage is only a sentence or two long, and no matter where the material came from, including web sites, discussion groups, or the papers of other students. I have had some students suggest that their plagiarism is “not a big deal.” You should be aware that I do regard it as a big deal. Other students have told me they were not aware that what they were doing was a violation of academic integrity. If you have any uncertainty about the policy, or about whether the specific use of other sources you are considering is acceptable, come and talk with me. I’ll be happy to clarify what is acceptable and what is not. Finally, I have heard from some students that they resorted to plagiarism because they were overwhelmed by an assignment and saw no way of completing it successfully without resorting to cheating. Ironically, in many cases, if these students had worked as hard at writing a paper as they did at plagiarizing, they could certainly have written an acceptable paper. If you are having trouble getting started on a paper, please come and talk with me.