Syllabus: contact info, texts and requirements, calendar
 
 

Calendar. The assignments below are approximate and tentative. A reading-guide handout may further specify the details of an assignment, and it may also include passages that are part of your assignment. Selection numbers and pages refer to the Lycan and Prinz anthology (3rd ed.).

8/25 introduction
8/30 identity theory Place, “Is Consciousness a Brain Process?” (LP 2, 25-30)—reading guide
9/1 Armstrong, “The Causal Theory of the Mind” (LP 3, 31-39)—reading guide
9/6 artificial intelligence Haugeland, “Semantic Engines: An Introduction to Mind Design,” sects. I-VII (LP 14, 195-208)—reading guide
9/8 ——, “Semantic Engines,” sects. VIII-IX (LP 14, 208-212)—reading guide
9/13 functionalism Putnam, “The Nature of Mental States” (LP 4, 40-47)—reading guide
9/15 Block, “Troubles with Functionalism,” sels. (LP 5, 48-52)—reading guide
9/20 monism Davidson, “Mental Events” (LP 6, 55-65)—reading guide
9/22 Churchland, “Eliminative Materialism and the Propositional Attitudes” (LP 16, 231-244)—reading guide
9/27 computa­tion­al­ism Carruthers, “Which Language Do We Think With?,” sects. 13.1-13.4 (LP 13, 171-183)—reading guide
9/29 (ppr 1 due) ——, “Which Language Do We Think With?,” sects. 13.5-13.8 (LP 13, 183-191)—reading guide
10/4 con­nec­tion­ism Churchland and Sejnowski, “Neural Representation and Neural Computation,” sects. 1-4 (LP 17, 247-264)—reading guide
10/6 ——, “Neural Representation and Neural Computation,” sect. 5, and Fodor and Pylyshyn, excerpt from “Connectionism and Cognitive Architecture” (LP 17-18, 264-271)—reading guide
10/11 robotics Brooks, “Intelligence Without Representation” (LP 20, 298-311)—reading guide
midsemester break
10/18 behaviorism Skinner, excerpt from About Behaviorism (LP 1, 17-21)—reading guide
10/20 intentional systems Dennett, “True Believers: The Intentional Strategy and Why it Works” (LP 21, 323-333)—reading guide
10/25 ——, “True Believers” continued (LP 21, 333-336) and Dennett, “Real Patterns,” sects. 1-3 (LP 23, 351-359)—reading guide
10/27 (ppr 2 due) ——, “Real Patterns,” sect. 4 (LP 23, 359-366)—reading guide
11/1 simulationism & the theory theory Gordon, “Folk Psychology as Simulation” (LP 24, 369-378)—reading guide
11/3 Stich and Nichols, excerpt from “Folk Psychology: Simulation or Tacit Theory?” (LP 25, 379-392)—reading guide
11/8 externalism Davidson, “Knowing One’s Own Mind” (LP 33, 529-542)—reading guide
11/10 Clark and Chalmers, “The Extended Mind” (LP 35, 555-564)—reading guide
11/15 phenomenal consciousness Jackson, “Epiphenomenal Qualia” (LP 42, 657-663)—reading guide
11/17 Van Gulick, “Understanding the Phenomenal Mind: Are We All Just Armadillos?” (LP 43, 664-670 only)—reading guide
Thanksgiving break
11/29 Lycan, “The Superiority of HOP to HOT” (LP 40, 617-629)—reading guide
12/1 (ppr 3 due) Chalmers, excerpt from “Consciousness and its Place in Nature” (LP 38, 595-602)—reading guide
12/6 emotions Solomon, “Emotions and Choice” (LP 54, 827-838)—reading guide
12/8 Prinz, “Embodied Emotions” (LP 55, 839-849)—reading guide
12/13 exam week final exam (9 a.m. Tues.)