Philosophy 384a
Philosophy of Mind: Philosophical Psychology
Winter 2017
Professor Matthew Davidson
tinyurl.com/davidsoncm
[email protected]
[email protected]
(allow 2 days for a response, put "Philosophy 384" in the subject line)
Office Hours: TuTh 2-4
Phone: 537-7727
Course Description
In this class we will focus on questions concerning the nature of the mind and related
phenomena. We will attempt to answer questions such as the following:
1) What sort of thing is the mind? Is it a non-physical entity? Is it the brain? Is it
physical but not identical with the brain?
2) What is consciousness? Can it be reduced to neural events? Does it at least
supervene on neural events? Can it be reduced to representational properties of
mental events?
3) What is mental representation—in particular, what makes my thought of Obama a
thought about Obama and not anything else in the universe? How is representation
related to consciousness? Can it be reduced to non-intentional facts?
There are two texts for the class. One is Philosophy of Mind: Classical and
Contemporary Readings ed. David Chalmers. The other is Philosophy of Mind by
Jaegwon Kim.
About the Class
I expect you to come to class each day having done the assigned reading and with
questions to ask. It will not be possible for you to read the material assigned for the
course without having questions. You need to take notes on what you are reading, and
you need to write down your questions and bring them to class. The material will be
hard. This class will focus on critically evaluating ideas through class discussion and
reflection both inside and outside class. I will not feed you information which I expect
you to memorize, write down for a test, and forget. The goal of this class is to assist
you in thinking. This often has little to do with memorizing facts. Also, just because
you're not being fed a spate of information you shouldn't think you shouldn't be taking
notes. You should be thinking hard about what is being discussed in class, and you
should be taking notes as you think through problems and listen to what your
classmates or I have to say.
You must have completed an introduction to philosophy class as well as a critical
thinking class to take this class. If you haven't taken an introduction to philosophy class
at CSUSB, I recommend you take one first before attempting this class.
Assignment of Grades
The grade will consist of two 4-5 page papers, and a number of short (1/2-2 page)
writing assignments that will be given throughout the quarter. The first paper is worth
25% of your grade. An optional rewrite of that first paper is worth 25%. (If you don't do
the rewrite, I will double your score from the first paper.) The second paper is worth
30% of the grade and is due during the final exam period. Each of the graded shorter
papers is worth 20/n% each, where 'n' is the total number of short assignments graded.
The papers should be typed, and double-spaced in 12-point Arial or Helvetica font. If
you do not receive credit for one of the short assignments, you may take it to the Writing
Center (details on the website), work on it with the people there, and turn it back in to be
re-graded. No papers will be accepted late without a very good reason. You should email me to find out what you missed in class if you miss class; not knowing about the
assignment isn't sufficient grounds for an extension on it. Always keep extra copies of
your papers. All students should be familiar with the University regulations on
plagiarism, as stated in the Bulletin. You may find a link to the Bulletin and information
on plagiarism on the website.
Final grades will be assigned as follows: n0% will suffice for a grade G-. n3% will
suffice for a grade of G. n8% will suffice for a grade of G+. (So, 80% is a B-, 83% is a
B, and 88% is a B+)
If you are in need of an accommodation for a disability in order to participate in class,
please let me know ASAP and also contact Services to Students with Disabilities at UH183, (909) 537-5238.
Classroom Conduct
Please turn off cell phones during class. Please do not text message during class.
Please don't walk in and out of class. Be respectful of the class. Be excellent to each
other.
This is an electronic-free zone. Please put phones away, and no texting. No
laptops, Kindles, or tablets (iPads, etc.). If you have the books in electronic form
(and I suggest you get them in paper form), you may use an e-reader. But no
typing during class.
No knives (other than penknives), guns, or other weapons (throwing stars, nunchakus,
garrottes, galleys, halberds, catapults, etc.) are allowed in class. If you have any of
these in class, you forfeit your right to continue in the course, and may be ejected from
the class and/or referred to the University for further disciplinary action.
Schedule
The following is a rough schedule of readings and assignments. We may deviate
temporally from the schedule as our interests dictate, and we may examine additional
materials to aid in your understanding of the texts.
Keep in mind that the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy will be of much help to you:
http://plato.stanford.edu
Week 1: Introduction and Dualism: Kim 1-35, Kim 35-60; Descartes (Chalmers 1024).
Week 2: Dualism: Huxley and Smullyan (Chalmers 24-31). Davidson (will e-mail).
Week 3: Mind-Brain Identity Theory: Kim 91-127; Place, Smart, Feigel (Chalmers
55-73).
Week 4: Finish Identity Theory
Week 5: Mental Content (Kim 227-241). Fodor (website).
Week 6: Continue Mental Content. Begin Consciousness (Kim 263-296) Nagel
(Chalmers 219-226) Dennett ( Chalmers 226-245).
Week 7: Representationalism Tye (Chalmers 447-456)
Week 8: Functionalism Kim 129-138; IEP Entry; Harman The Intrinsic Quality of
Experience (website).
Week 9: Finish Functionalism.
Week 10: Searle "Can Computers Think?" (Chalmers 669-675).
If we have time after Searle, we'll look at Putnam/Burge material on content externalism,
and McKinsey/Brueckner investigating the implications of this. All of this is in Chalmers
pp. 581 ff. The corresponding Kim section is pp. 241-261.