Phil 255: Philosophy of Mind

Instructor: Chris Eliasmith
Office hours: Tues and Thurs 1-2:30 and by appointment, HH331.
Time: Tuesday and Thursday 4:00-5:20pm
Place: AL 208

Here's a link to William James' Stream of Consciousness essay.

Note: If you want help with the midterm questions, please supply your best guess as to the answer when asking about a question. I won't just 'give out' answers.

Course Description: This is a survey course intended to introduce the student to contemporary philosophical approaches to traditional problems in the philosophy of mind. Readings for this course include classic papers outlining influential positions in philosophy of mind in the 20th century. We will situate and discuss introspectionism, psychological and logical behaviorism, identity theory, functionalism, subjectivism, instrumentalism, computationalism, eliminative materialism, and new mysterianism. Areas of study include the philosophy of psychology, sensation and perception, concepts, intentionality, folk-psychology, and consciousness.

Course material

• Syllabus
• Lecture slides

• In-class papers
• Essay topics
• Policies (please read)

• Possible questions for the Midterm.
• Possible questions for the Final Test.

Resources

• Dictionary of Philosophy of Mind

If you have any questions, feel free to email me.

Last updated Dec, 2007