Philosophy 3
Summer 2009 Session A
| Number | Title | Instructor | Days/time | Room |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | The Nature of Mind | Schnee | MTuWTh 10-12 | 130 Wheeler |
This course is an introduction to the philosophical study of the mind. What is the mind? Are our mental states, like beliefs and desires, states of our brains? Are they states of some non-physical substance? Or are they nothing more than tendencies to behave in certain ways? Could a computer have a mind? What is consciousness? Is the nature of our conscious experiences entirely determined by our brain states? Why is the study of consciousness so difficult? Can there be a ?science? of consciousness? When you have a belief about the President, what makes it the case that your belief is about that particular person? Philosophers have argued for a variety of answers to these questions. We will examine and evaluate those answers and arguments, and attempt to gain an understanding of the relation between the physical world and our minds.