Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Extra credit will only be given in very special circumstances. Indiscriminate use of
extra credit is a disincentive for people to commit themselves to regular
coursework. It also enables them to achieve an inflated grade that does not reflect
their understanding of the material.
You must be present on the scheduled date of any test or risk a grade of F for it. If
you cannot be present at the time scheduled, you must make arrangements with
me at least three days in advance. If you are sick on a test day, you must provide
evidence (e.g. a doctors note) confirming this.
There will be no class on Founders Day, April 9, so that you can attend student
presentations.
COURSE OUTLINE WITH READINGS AND LEARNING OBJECTIVES
There are two required texts:
Ian Ravenscroft - Philosophy of Mind: a Beginners Guide
Torin Alter and Robert J. Howell A Dialogue on Consciousness
In the reading list below, R stands for Ravenscroft; A stands for Alter & Howell; H
stands for handouts (Word files on Moodle); E stands for articles accessed via the
Web or electronic reserve.
I teach with overheads. I will put some of the more technical or detailed notes on
Moodle.
Further readings will be assigned with the paper topics.
Philosophical Behaviorism
R ch 2.1-3
H Frank Jackson and David Braddon-Mitchell, Problems for Behaviorism
Language of Thought
R ch. 6.5
H Jerry Fodor, Why There Still Has to be a Language of Thought
CONSCIOUSNESS
Students should be able to describe and critically evaluate
The hard problem of consciousness
Conceivability arguments against physicalism
The Knowledge argument against physicalism
A The main reading for this section is Alter & Howells. Check the index for
specific topics.
E Alex Byrne What Mind-Body Problem? (excellent overview)
H Rene Descartes, excerpt from Meditation VI; objection by Antoine Arnauld
R ch. 11.1; ch. 12
E David Chalmers: Facing up to the Problem of Consciousness (sections 1-3)
http://consc.net/papers/facing.pdf
H Thomas Nagel, excerpts from What is it like to be a bat?
H David Chalmers, excerpts from The Conscious Mind
UNIVERSITY POLICIES AND RESOURCES
Disabilities Statement
If you have a disability and require an accommodation to fully participate in this
class, contact the Office for Students with Disabilities (OSWD), located in the
University Health Center (503-943-7134), as soon as possible. If you have an
OSWD Accommodation Plan, you should make an appointment to meet with me to
discuss your accommodations. Also, you should meet with me if you wish to discuss
emergency medical information or special arrangements in case the building must
be evacuated.
The Writing Center is open by appointment and works to support professors and
students as they write across the disciplines. Appointments are made electronically.
To schedule an appointment, go the Writing Center website at
http://www.up.edu/lrc/writing/ and click on Appointments to sign in and view the
schedule.
The Math Resource Lab offers tutoring to students studying mathematics Sunday
through Thursday. Help with mathematics is available on a walk-in basis or, to
schedule an appointment, call (503) 943-8157.