Phi 109-02—Perspectives on Philosophy: Minds, Bodies, and Machines
Fall 2013—Glen Helman
Instructor: Glen Helman, Assoc. Prof. of Philosophy and Dept. Chair
E-mail: helmang@wabash.edu
Office: Center 214, (765) 361-6334
My posted hours currently are 2:30-3:30 on M and 3-4 on Th (but this can change). I usually arrive on campus between 9 and 10 and leave between 5 and 6, and you stand a good chance of finding me in my office whenever I am not teaching. My other classes meet at 10 and 1:10 MWF. (While I am in my office most noon hours, the noon hour is also a common time for meetings and other events, as is the afternoon after 4.)
Home: 314 W. Wabash Ave., (765) 362-0428
This is your best bet evenings and weekends, but try my office too.
Cell phone: (765) 366-0791
Texts
Books:
David Rosenthal, Materialism and the Mind-Body Problem, 2nd ed. (Indianapolis: Hackett, 2000).
Rocco Gennaro, Mind And Brain: A Dialogue on the Mind-Body Problem (Indianapolis: Hackett, 1996).
On the web:
David Chalmers, “The Puzzle of Conscious Experience,” Scientific American Special Edition, vol. 12, issue 1 (Aug. 2002), pp. 90-100—on the author’s site at http://consc.net/papers/puzzle.pdf and on EBSCO at AN 10684238
A. M. Turing, “Computing Machinery and Intelligence,” Mind, n.s. vol. 59 (1950), pp. 433-460—on JSTOR at 2251299
Selections from Plato and Aristotle on souls (handout: 1up for viewing, 2up for printing, bkl for printing as a booklet)
Selections from Plato’s Phaedo (handout: 1up for viewing, 2up for printing, bkl for printing as a booklet)
Selections from Hume’s A Treatise of Human Nature, bk. I, pt. IV, §§2, 5, 6 (handout: 1up for viewing, 2up for printing, bkl for printing as a booklet)
Grading
Requirements:
Writing:
Three graded papers,
(1)two short papers, one of 1-2 pp. and 2-3 pp. (1st due 11/7, 2nd due 11/21)
on a topic arising from the texts you read (I will assign the general form of the paper and the type of topic, but the specific topic will be your choice),
(2)a longer paper of 5-6 pp. (due 12/20)
developing your own views on a topic related to what you have read, and
(3)two ungraded writing assignments of 1 or 2 pp. (1st due 10/29, 2nd due 12/5)
interspersed among the papers.
Participation:
Regular, prepared, and active
(4)participation in class discussion
and timely completion of graded assignments.
Your final grade will be based on these in the following way: 10%, 20% and 40%, respectively for the graded papers, 7.5% each for the timely and serious completion of ungraded writing assignments, and 15% for participation in discussion and other aspects of class participation. (When you receive credit for an ungraded assignment, its portion of your final grade will be figured using your highest grade for other aspects of the course, so completion of the ungraded assignments will alter the proportions above in a way that could raise but cannot lower your grade.)
Attendance and due dates:
As part of my evaluation of your participation, I will be keeping a record of your attendance. You will be automatically excused if you notify me in advance that you will miss a class (e-mail or voice-mail messages are fine). After the fact, I will expect you to have a good reason. Due dates for the papers are subject to negotiation. I set a default due date for the class, but I am willing to set individual due dates (within reason) for those who find that inconvenient. My policy on missed deadlines is similar to that on missed classes: I’ll re-negotiate the deadline (again within reason) if I hear in advance; but after the fact, I’ll expect an excuse. Unexcused missed deadlines will have an effect on your participation grade.
Calendar
Calendar. The assignments below are approximate and tentative. Sometimes a reading-guide handout will specify the details of an assignment, and it may include passages that are part of your assignment.
| 10/22 | introduction: Plato and Aristotle on the soul (handout: 1up for viewing, 2up for printing, bkl for printing as a booklet) | |
| 10/24 | Plato | Phaedo, 73a-76a, 85d-86d, 91e-95a, 97b-99c (handout: 1up for viewing, 2up for printing, bkl for printing as a booklet) |
| 10/29 | Descartes | Discourse on Method, pt. 5 (sels.) and other sels. on animals as automata (Rosenthal, pp. 19-30) |
| 10/31 | Hobbes | selections from Leviathan and De Corpore (Rosenthal, pp. 43-52) |
| 11/5 | Hume | Treatise, bk. I, pt. IV (sels.) (handout: 1up for viewing, 2up for printing, bkl for printing as a booklet) |
| 11/7 | Gennaro | Mind And Brain, 1st night (Gennaro, pp. 1-21) |
| 11/12 | Mind And Brain, 2nd night (Gennaro, pp. 22-45) | |
| 11/14 | Mind And Brain, 3rd night (Gennaro, pp. 46-67) | |
| 11/19 | Smart | “Sensations and Brain Processes” (Rosenthal, pp. 53-66) |
| 11/21 | Shaffer & Cornman | “Mental Events and the Brain” and “The Identity of Mind and Body” (Rosenthal, pp. 67-79) |
| Thanksgiving break | ||
| 12/3 | Turing | “Computing Machinery and Intelligence,” §§1-5, 6(6), 7 (pp. 432-442, 450-451, 454-460)—on JSTOR at 2251299 |
| 12/5 | Putnam | “The Nature of Mental States” (Rosenthal, pp. 150-161) |
| 12/10 | Jackson | “Epiphenomenal Qualia” and “Postscript on Qualia” (Rosenthal, pp. 249-259, 279-281) |
| 12/12 | Chalmers | “The Puzzle of Conscious Experience” (pp. 90-100)——on the author’s site at http://consc.net/papers/puzzle.pdf and on EBSCO at AN 10684238 |