Syllabus

Course Meeting Times

Lectures: 2 sessions / week, 1 hour / session

Recitations: 1 session / week, 1 hour / session

Course Description

This course is an introduction to many of the central issues in a branch of philosophy called philosophy of mind. Some of the questions we will discuss include the following. Can computers think? Is the mind an immaterial thing? Or is the mind the brain? Or does the mind stand to the brain as a computer program stands to the hardware? How can creatures like ourselves think thoughts that are "about" things? (For example, we can all think that Aristotle is a philosopher, and in that sense think "about" Aristotle, but what is the explanation of this quite remarkable ability?) Can I know whether your experiences and my experiences when we look at raspberries, fire trucks and stop lights are the same? Can consciousness be given a scientific explanation?

There are no prerequisites. Be prepared, though, to absorb a lot of unfamiliar technical vocabulary in a short space of time. Attendance at lectures and recitations is essential: Much material not in the readings will be presented there.

Textbooks

Chalmers, David, ed. Philosophy of Mind: Classical and Contemporary Readings. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2002. ISBN: 9780195145816.

Searle, John R. Mind: A Brief Introduction. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2005. ISBN: 9780195157345.

Required Work

Reading Assignments

There is a reading assignment for each class meeting, typically a paper or two from the Chalmers collection, and a selection from Searle's book. Searle's book is relatively easy going, but the readings in the Chalmers collection are often very difficult: Expect to read everything at least two or three times. They require close study, and you should not postpone them. If you have trouble understanding what an author says, or any other question concerning the course, please do not hesitate to ask.

Papers

Three five page papers: Paper topics will be distributed in advance and will ask students to analyze and discuss material covered in class. Guidelines for papers will be handed out in class. One of the first two papers must be rewritten and resubmitted (this is required of all students to fulfill the CI requirement). Resubmission should be made no later than three weeks after the initial submission. Your grade for the revised paper will be the average of the grades for the two versions. (Revised papers are held to a higher standard.) It is strongly recommended that you revise your first paper. It is also strongly recommended that you seek the advice of the writing tutor (see Getting Help below).

All assignments must be submitted electronically to your teaching assistant. It is your responsibility to be sure that your assignments have been received. Your TA may also require you to submit a hard copy of the assignment. Late papers (and assignments in general) will be penalized. In accordance with HASS-D regulations, this course requires at least 20 pages of writing (typed, double-spaced); the extra 5 pages are made up by the two argument analyses (see below).

Argument Analyses

There will be two 2-3 page argument analyses, which combined should total 5 pages.

Problem Sets

There will be a weekly problem set, distributed on Friday before recitation, and due on the following Friday. Late problem sets will be penalized. The questions on the weekly problem sets will be multiple choice. In addition to the problem sets, there will be occasional pop-quizzes in recitations: These will count towards the class participation portion of your grade.

Communication Intensive Criteria

In addition to the revision and resubmission of one writing assignment, HASS CI (Humanities and Social Sciences Communication Intensive) subjects should offer students substantial opportunity for oral expression, through presentations, student-led discussion, or class participation. In order to guarantee sufficient attention to student writing and substantial opportunity for oral expression, the maximum number of students per recitation section in a HASS CI subject is 18. The oral expression component of this class will be met by requiring students to present an analysis of a passage of text in recitation; details will be supplied by your teaching assistant.

Final Exam

You will be required to take a 3-hour final exam on material covered throughout the term. The final exam will be at least 2/3 essay format, and essay questions will be distributed in the final lecture of the term. The exam will be closed-notes and closed-books. (There is no midterm exam.) The time and date will be set by the Schedules Office Final Examination Schedule. Be sure to check this schedule early and notify the Schedules Office of any conflicts. (NB: Students will be required to take the exam at the scheduled time unless permission has been granted by the Schedules Office to take the exam at an alternate time. Permission to take the exam early will not be given to students who simply want to leave town early for the holidays, even if this is your only exam. Do not book flights home before you know the exam schedule.) In addition to taking the final exam, you must complete all the problem sets, the three papers, the argument analyses, and the text analysis to pass the course.

Plagiarism and Collaboration

You are encouraged to discuss the papers, argument analyses and problem sets (and, of course, also the reading assignments) with each other. However, joint work is not allowed; neither is the use of solutions to old problem sets. You should not use quotations or quotations masquerading as proper paraphrases: A statement of the ideas of one of the authors you've read must be couched in your own words. Plagiarism will result in a grade of F. (See the section on Academic Misconduct and Dishonesty from MIT's Policies and Procedures; you are responsible for familiarizing yourself with MIT's policy.) Do not use any footnotes. There will be no prizes for writing in anything other than plain English.

Grading

Your recitation grade will be based on attendance in both recitation and class, weekly problem sets, argument analyses, text analysis presentation, contributions to discussion, and pop-quizzes. See MIT's explanation of letter grades.

Class and Recitation Participation

This is encouraged (and counts towards your final grade). Talking about philosophy is one of the best ways of doing it. It is much better to say something you later realize is mistaken or confused than never to say it at all.

Getting Help

The instructor and teaching assistants are here to help you. Feel free to email us with any questions about the material or the problem sets, or come and visit us (making an appointment first via email is probably best). An exceptional epistolean has been assigned as the writing tutor, and you should take advantage of this valuable resource.