Introduction to Philosophy of Mind 2-IKV-114
The main course objective is to provide students with an introduction to some of main topics in philosophy of mind. Students acquire knowledge of representative philosophical conceptions, theories and questions concerning the nature of human mind, such as: What is mind? What is the nature of consciousness and self? Is a scientific theory of conscious experience possible? Can we explain the subjective character of our inner lives? Students will also be acquainted with a variety of methods (theoretical, empirical, experimental) and main arguments, types of argumentation on selected problems, such as: mind/body problem, nature of self, mental causation, intentionality, subjectivity, reductionism, free will. Lectures are combined with text seminars in order to improve students´capacity to analyse critically and comment on original texts as well as to report on and defend their own opinions.
News
- Final paper due on the 13th May 2019
Course schedule
| Type | Day | Time | Room | Lecturer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lecture 2 / Seminar 1 | Monday | 9:50 - 12:05 | M-1 | prof. PhDr. Silvia Gáliková, PhD. |
Syllabus
| Date | Topic |
|---|---|
| 18.02. | Philosophy of mind: history of problems, philosophy, science, medicine on the nature human mind.
P. Churchland: Matter and Consciousness. Ch. 2 pp. 7-22 here |
| 25.02. | Basic terminology, concepts: mind, consciousness, reason, mental states, subjectivity, mental causality, self etc.
G. Ryle, The Concept of Mind, chapter I. “Descartes Myth”, pp 11-61. here |
| 04.03. | Taxonomy of approaches in the study on the nature of mind (dualism, identity theory, functionalism, naturalism).
GÁLIKOVÁ, S. (2013): An Introduction to the Philosophy of Mind. Chapters 1-3. |
| 11.03. | Substance dualism, property dualism, criticism (Descartes, cartesianism, criticism).
R. Descartes, Meditations 1, 2 here |
| 18.03. | Identity theories (type, token), pro and contra arguments (Smart, Armstrong).
JJC Smart “Sensations and Brain Processes” here |
| 25.03. | Behaviorism (Watson), functionalism (Putnam, Turing, Searle).
J. Watson: “Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It”. Psychological Review, 20, 158-177 Putnam “The nature of Mental States” here |
| 01.04. | The concept and problem of consciousness, the hard problem (D. Chalmers), thought experiments.
D. Chalmers (1995): „Facing up to the problem of consciousness“. In: Journal of Consciousness Studies, 2(3), 200-219. |
| 08.04. | Models and theories of conscious experience (Dennett, Searle, Baars).
Dennett “True Believers” here Searle “Minds, brains and programs” here |
| 15.04. | On the nature of the Self, the problem of personal identity (Locke, Hume).
John Locke, Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Book 2, Chapter 27, “Identity and diversity”, pp 112-121. here David Hume, Treatise of Human Nature, Book 1, Part 4, Chapter 6, “Personal Identity”, pp. 132-141. here |
| 22.04. | No class - Easter holidays |
| 29.04. | Impairments of mind and consciousness; novel methods and technologies in the study of states of consciousness (Weiskrantz, Churchland).
L. Weiskrantz: “Some contributions of neuropsychology of vision and memory to the problem of consciousness”. In Anthony J. Marcel & E. Bisiach (eds.), Consciousness in Contemporary Science. Oxford University Press (1988). |
| 06.05. | The problem of free will, volitional action (Libet, Metzinger).
Libet, B. (1999): Do We Have Free Will? In: Journal of Consciousness Studies , 6, No. 8–9, 47–57. |
| 13.05. | Final discussion, debate on perspectives in explaining and understanding human mind. |
Assessment and evaluation
You can earn points in the assessment activities spread throughout the semester listed in the following table. The table also shows the required minima and possible maximal point evaluations.
| Activity | Possible maximum | Required minimum | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Teaching period | Activity during the seminar | 10 | 0 |
| Test | 10 | 0 | |
| Examination period | Final paper | 80 | 40 |
| Course total | 100 | 50 | |
The final mark will be awarded according to the following table:
| Points earned | Mark |
|---|---|
| 〈90, 100〉 | A |
| 〈80, 90) | B |
| 〈70, 60) | C |
| 〈60, 70) | D |
| 〈50, 60) | E |
| 〈0, 50) | FX |