Topics in Mind and Cognition PHIL 349
Instructor: Jonathan D. Trigg Ph.D.
Office: HLG 510
Office hours: Mon., Wed., Fri.: 1:00 - 3:00; Tue., Thur.: 3.30 – 5.30.
E-mail: jon.trigg@louisiana.edu
Class Time: TR: 2:00 - 3:15
Class Place: HLG 505
Assessment: Your final grade will be made up of the following components:
Mid-Term Examination 30%
Final
Paper
35%
Final
Examination 30%
Class
Participation
5%
In the mid-term examination you will answer three questions in 75
minutes, and in the final examination you will answer three questions
in two and a half hours. The final paper will be between 5 and 7 pages
long (12 point, double spaced). I will provide you with a list of
titles for this paper, and plenty of advice on how to complete it.
Grading System
• Remember that you are being graded for achievement, not effort.
• Grades range from A to F. A: 90-100; B: 80-89; C: 70-79; D: 60-69; F: 59 and below
• An A is assigned to excellent work, B to
better than average, C to average and D to below average but passing; E
and F grades fail.
• No ‘extra credit’ will be given.
Attendance and Class Policies
Attendance is mandatory. Students who miss more than three classes over
the semester without good reason will automatically be dropped from the
course. Good reasons include illness (requiring medical attention) and
involvement in significant university activities. I will deduct 2.5
marks a day from unexcused late assignments. If you have a disability
and require assistance with fulfilling class assignments, don't
hesitate to notify the instructor and the Office for Services to
Students with Disabilities at 482-5252. Finally, be sure you are
familiar with all university policies described in the UL Lafayette
Undergraduate Bulletin.
If you miss class, for whatever reason, it is your responsibility to
get class notes from another student. Missed exams or other assignments
can be made up only if an appropriate excuse, e.g., illness requiring
medical attention, participation in certain official university events,
etc., is provided. If you miss an assignment due date, you must notify
me within one week of the due date in order to make up the assignment.
Anybody caught plagiarizing will fail the course, and will be reported
to the University. It is incredibly easy to identify plagiarised
passages in your written work. You must include full citations of any
sources that you use – including page numbers of books and
URL’s for websites.
Emergency Evacuation Procedures
A map of this floor is posted near the elevator marking the evacuation
route and the Designated Rescue Area. This is an area where emergency
service personnel will go first to look for individuals who need
assistance in exiting the building. Students who may need assistance
should identify themselves to the teaching faculty.
Main Texts
John Heil (ed.) The Philosophy of Mind: A Guide and Anthology (2003)
Elements of Mind Tim Crane (2001)
You should pay special attention Heil’s very helpful introductions to the selections he presents.
You can find a useful online resource to help with jargon and give overviews of various topics at:
http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~philos/MindDict/
Aims
To introduce central themes in contemporary philosophy of mind and the
arguments offered for and against the most important theories of mind.
To learn how to present arguments for and against established positions
clearly and forcefully, with an eye to working out and defending your
own views about the nature of the mind.
Central Themes
A good philosophy of mind must respond to (at least) two significantly different problems.
A metaphysical problem – What kind of a thing is a mind?
An epistemological problem – How do minds hook up to the world in e.g. perception and belief?
(This isn’t the same question as the question whether they do;
though if we find it hard to work out how minds might hook up to the
world, we might be forced to raise the question of whether they do at
all.)
Most of the course will be devoted to the first of these questions.
Course Structure and Reading
Numbers in parentheses relate to numbered sections in Heil. You should
have read the relevant papers before the class in which we discuss the
issues they raise. I recommend you read them again after the class
– philosophical writings is dense and demanding; you should not
expect to understand things perfectly the first or second time around.
Week1: Introduction: why is there a problem about minds? (Crane Intro.)
Week 2: Part 1: Metaphysics – Dualism (3,4,1)
Week 3: Behaviourism and Mind-Brain Identity (6,7, 8 )
Week4: Functionalism (15, 16, 17, 18)
Week 5: Artificial Intelligence (11, 12, 13, 14)
Week 6: Consciousness (35, 36, 37, 39)
Week 7: Intentionality (Crane Intro. and Ch. 1.) Review and mid-term exam
Week 8: Subjectivity and self-knowledge (30, 32, 33)
Week 9: Eliminativism (24, 25)
Week 9: Is the Mind-Body problem soluble? (44, 45, 46)
Week 10: Challenges to contemporary materialism (47, 48, 49)
Week 11: Open discussions and review.
Week12: Part 2. Introduction: Epistemology (see reading list)
Week 13: Two theories of perception (37+ 38 + see reading list)
Week 14: Perception, judgement and justification (Crane T.B.A.)
Week 15: Review; examination technique; final paper due in last class.
Final Examination:
HLG 505; Thursday, December 8, 10:15 A.M. – 12:45 P.M.