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PHIL407 PHILOSOPHY OF MIND I

Course Objectives

Coursework and distribution of grades:

• Weekly Reading Responses (15%): Three reading reports are to be submitted via email to mbeni@metu.edu.tr. Each report, approximately 300 words in length, must be submitted before the Monday of the week during which the respective text will be discussed in class. The reports should identify the main thesis and the basic structure of the author's argument.

• Participation & Group Presentations (15%)

• Intermediate Exams (30%)

• Final Exam (40%)

Changes to the program: The syllabus is provisional, and it may be revised at any stage during the semester. It is the students’ responsibility to keep updated about the syllabus.

Weekly program:

Part I: The Nature of Mind and Its Relationship with the Body
Week 1: General Introduction. A preliminary session to provide an overview of the course structure, its objectives, and a foundational introduction to the central problems in the philosophy of mind.

Week 2: Dualism and the Problem of Mental Causation. This session will critically examine the mind-body distinction and the difficulties inherent in explaining how a non-physical mind can interact with the physical body.

Required Readings: TBA

Week 3: Behaviourism. An analysis of the philosophical position that mental states are simply dispositions or behaviours, rather than internal, private entities.

Required Readings: TBA

Week 4: Identity Theory and Anti-reductionism. Exploration of the thesis that mental states are identical to physical brain states, and the arguments against this form of reductionism.

Required Readings: TBA

Week 5: Functionalism. An investigation into the view that mental states are defined by their causal roles, independent of their physical realisation.

Required Readings: TBA

Week 6: Intermediate Exam. An assessment covering the material from the initial sessions on the mind-body problem.

Part II: Representationalism
Week 7: Computationalism. This session will focus on the theory that the mind functions as a computational system.

Required Readings: TBA

Week 8: Can Computers Think? A philosophical examination of whether artificial intelligence can truly possess mental states, with a focus on arguments such as the Chinese Room.

Required Readings: TBA

Week 9: Connectionism. A study of models of cognition that are based on neural networks and their distributed representations.

Required Readings: TBA

Week 10: Embodied and Extended Cognition. An exploration of the hypotheses that cognition is fundamentally shaped by the body and that the mind can extend beyond the confines of the brain into the environment.

Required Readings: TBA

Week 11: Second Mid-term Exam. An evaluation of the topics covered in the representationalism section.

Part III: Intentionality, Consciousness, and Selfhood
Week 12: Intentionality, Consciousness, and the Self. This session will introduce the concepts of intentionality (the 'aboutness' of mental states), consciousness, and the nature of the self.

Required Readings: TBA

Week 13: Third Mid-term Exam. This examination will assess understanding of the material related to intentionality, consciousness, and selfhood.

Week 14: Consciousness and its Subjective Character. A focused discussion on the subjective, qualitative aspect of conscious experience, often referred to as 'qualia'.

Required Readings: TBA

Week 15: Self and Consciousness: Minimal Phenomenal Selfhood. An analysis of the foundational, pre-reflective sense of self as an integrated subject of experience.

Required Readings: TBA

Week 16: Group Presentations. Final presentations in which groups will deliver their research on a pre-approved topic.

Course Content

Study of the mind-body problem and the problems of free will and determinism. Survey of the main theories of mind and human action.

Course Learning Outcomes

see the previous section

Program Outcomes Matrix

0: No Contribution 1: Little Contribution 2: Partial Contribution 3: Full Contribution