Philosophy of Mind
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Philosophy of Mind Professor Peter Ross
Philosophy 350 Office: Bldg. 1, Rm. 325
Spring 2016 Phone: (909) 869-3036
CRN 31800, 4 units e-mail:
Class meetings: M, W, F 10:30-11:35 Office hours: M noon-2, W 1:00-2:00
Location: Bldg. 5, Rm. 124 and by appointment
We'll focus on three broad topics having to do with the nature of the mind:
The problem of other minds. We'll start with considering what knowledge we have of our own minds and those of others. The apparently sharp distinction between first and third person perspectives indicates that these sorts of knowledge are quite different. However, we’ll consider a form of reasoning about the mind where knowledge of our own minds isn’t really that different from knowledge of others’ minds.
The mind-body problem. Characterization of mind from the first person perspective also suggests that mind and body are distinct. However, the most common current view is that mind is an aspect of the body (it is constituted by neurophysiological processes). This identification of mind with an aspect of body indicates, against our first impression, that it’s correct that knowledge of our own minds isn't so different from knowledge of others' minds.
The classification of mental states: We ordinarily talk about the mental in terms of types of states of mind, such as perceptions and thoughts. We'll consider how to characterize perceptions and thoughts by their distinctive properties: perceptions by sensory qualities and thoughts by intentionality. We'll see that in trying to understand sensory qualities and intentionality, the appearance of a sharp distinction between first and third person perspectives reemerges, posing problems for mind-body identification.
Required Text:
David J. Chalmers, Philosophy of Mind: Classical and Contemporary Readings (Oxford
University Press, 2002)
other required readings will be provided in class, as indicated with ‡ in schedule below
Course Goals:
1. Enable you to use critical argument to clarify your fundamental beliefs about the nature of mind.
2. Develop your conceptual skills through helping you distinguish different aspects of mentality.
3. Help you think critically about the difference between first and third person perspectives.
4. Develop writing skills involved in articulating, understanding, and evaluating arguments about the nature of mind.
Requirements and Grading:
4-5 short response papers: 40%
"Tell me what you know" quizzes 20%
Term paper: 30%, due 6/10 (abstract due 5/18)
Attendance and participation: 10%
Reading response papers: during the quarter you will be assigned 4-5 reading response papers. These papers are 1-2 pages long, will be focused to answer specific questions about particular readings, and will be due one or two classes following their assignment. They will be graded on the basis of clarity of reasoning and demonstrated effort. The goal of these papers is to keep you engaged with particular readings.
Term paper: this paper is 2000 words (about 7-8 pages double spaced with 1" margins) with a 150 word abstract. A draft of the abstract, which must include a thesis statement, is due approximately three weeks prior to paper; you should talk to me about your thesis prior to turning in your abstract. The goal of the term paper is for you to work out a sustained argument for a thesis, allowing you to synthesize aspects of various particular readings.
Policy on late short response papers: late papers will be marked down according to the following guideline: for every class the paper is late, it is automatically marked down one whole grade (that is, if a paper due on Monday is turned in on the following Wednesday, it will be marked down one grade, for example, from an A to and B). Exceptions to this policy will be made only in the case of documented illnesses.
"Tell me what you know" quizzes: these will be explained in class.
Tentative schedule for reading assignments (Readings provided in class are indicated with '‡'; otherwise, page references refer to Chalmers):
Week 1/March 28: Topic 1, The problem of other minds and the problem of self-consciousness
Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy II and VI, pp. 10-21
Bertrand Russell, "Analogy," pp. 667-669
Paul M. Churchland, "The Epistemological Problem" from Matter and Consciousness ‡
Week 4/April 18 or 20: Topic 2, The mind-body problem
Paul M. Churchland, section 1 of "The Ontological Problem" from Matter and Consciousness ‡
Gilbert Ryle, "Descartes' Myth," pp. 32-38
Paul M. Churchland, sections 2-4 of "The Ontological Problem" from Matter and Consciousness ‡
D. M. Armstrong, "The Causal Theory of Mind," pp. 80-87
Ned Block, "Troubles with Functionalism," pp. 94-98
P. M. Churchland, section 5 of "The Ontological Problem" from Matter and Consciousness ‡
William Lycan, “Giving Dualism Its Due” ‡
Week 6/May 2: Topic 3a, Perceptual states and the problem of qualia
Thomas Nagel, "What Is It Like to Be a Bat?" pp. 219-226
Frank Jackson, "Epiphenomenal Qualia," pp. 273-280
David Chalmers, "The Puzzle of Conscious Experience" available at
http://consc.net/papers/puzzle.html
Week 8/May 16: Topic 3b, Thoughts
Andy Clark, Introduction and Ch. 3 “Patterns, Contents, and Causes” from Mindware ‡
Daniel C. Dennett, "True Believers: The Intentional Strategy and Why It Works,"
pp. 556-568
Paul M. Churchland, "Eliminative Materialism and the Propositional Attitudes,"
pp. 568-580
Paul M. Churchland's Matter and Consciousness, Revised Edition (MIT Press, 1988) is an accessible general text (it was slightly revised in 2013). I'll be providing a couple of chapters of this book in class, but other parts might be of interest as well (from the 1988 version—there are virtually no changes important to us in the 2013 version). An electronic version of the 2013 edition is available through the CPP library at https://xerxes.calstate.edu/pomona/books/record?id=b2737851
An additional resource for philosophy of mind is: A Companion to the Philosophy of Mind, edited by Samuel Guttenplan (Blackwell, 1994). It is an excellent one volume encyclopedia with entries for most of the topics, as well as for most of the authors, that we'll discuss.
It is very likely that the faculty will have to go on strike on the following dates: April 13, 14, 15, 18, 19. Your class would ordinarily meet on one or more of these days. If the strike takes place, it will not. I will advise you of supplementary or alternative activities to do instead of coming to campus. You are within your civil rights to ask questions or request a class discussion of any issues related to the strike, since they are educational issues that affect you. Your faculty have by contract, by HEERA law, and by tradition the privilege of academic freedom, which means the administration cannot tell us what to say in class.