Předměty

Poslední úprava: UFRHILL (08.02.2015)

We shall examine contemporary attempts to define and explain the phenomenon of consciousness. The central question for us will be whether or not consciousness can be explained in a scientific and naturalistic way: whether, for example, it can in principle be understood as a state of the brain, or as reducible to "functional states", or by a physicist theory involving sub-atomic events. We will also examine the philosophers-the so-called "mysterians"-who are sceptical of naturalist explanation, or who think that a naturalist explanation, though in principle possible, is humanly unattainable. In the final part of the course we will consider emergentist theory and the recent revival of panpsychism. Throughout the course we will be attentive to the different concepts of consciousness that are presupposed by the philosophers whom we discuss. We shall see that philosophers often implicitly presuppose rather different conceptions of the phenomenon.

Poslední úprava: UFRHILL (09.02.2015)

Literature:

Students will be required to read a selection of the following texts as homework each week.

Ned Block, Owen Flanagan, and Güven Güyeldere, The Nature of Consciousness, MIT Press, 1999

David J. Chalmers, The Conscious Mind: In Search of a Fundamental Theory, OUP, 1996

Daniel Dennett, Brainstorms: Philosophical Essays on Mind and Psychology, Harvester, 1978

Daniel Dennett, Consciousness Explained, Little, Penguin, 1993 (1^st edition 1991)

Daniel Dennett, Sweet Dreams: Philosophical Obstacles to a Science of Consciousness, MIT, 2005

Owen Flanagan, Consciousness Reconsidered, MIT, 1992

Douglas Hofstadter and Daniel Dennett, The Mind’s I: Fantasies and Reflections on Self and Soul, Basic Books, 1981

Douglas Hofstadter, ‘Reflections’ on Searle’s ‘Minds, Brains, and Programs’, in Hofstadter and Dennett, 373-382

Frank Jackson, ‘The Knowledge Argument’, in The Richmond Journal of Philosophy, 3, 2003

Saul Kripke, Naming and Necessity, Blackwell, 1980, 144-164

Colin McGinn, ‘Can we solve the mind-body problem?’, in Mind 98, 1989, 349-66

Thomas Nagel, ‘What Is It Like to Be a Bat?’, in Nagel, Mortal Questions, CUP, 1979, 165-180

Thomas Nagel, ‘Brain Bisection and the Unity of Consciousness’, in Mortal Questions, CUP, 1979

Thomas Nagel, The View from Nowhere, OUP, 1986 (esp. chapters I and II)

Roger Penrose, The Emperor’s New Mind, Oxford University Press, 1999 (1^stedition 1989)

Gilbert Ryle, The Concept of Mind, Penguin, 1949

John R. Searle, ‘Minds, Brains, and Programs’, in Hofstadter and Dennett, 353-373

John R. Searle, The Rediscovery of the Mind, MIT, 1992

John R. Searle, Mind: An Introduction, Oxford University Press, 2004

Poslední úprava: UFRHILL (08.02.2015)

Course Requirements

Each week there will be a reading available in the library (and on Moodle) which will be the subject of our discussion in the seminar. The reading is an essential part of the course, and students will quickly lose their way if they fail to do it each week. Our course will be graded according to two criteria: attendance and written work.

(i) To be eligible for the grade, students should not be absent from the seminar more than three times over the semester.

(ii) The written work will be a short essay, of between 1,500-2,000 words on one subject from the course. This essay, written in English, should show knowledge of a philosopher included in the course, and the student’s own argued standpoint. The essay should be handed in on paper by May 1^st, 2015. Essays will not be accepted after this date nor will they be accepted in electronic form. It is important that Erasmus students do not leave Prague without discussing their essay with me, as the discussion may contribute towards the grade.

Poslední úprava: UFRHILL (08.02.2015)

1. Introduction: consciousness and naturalism

2. Identity theory (J.J.C. Smart)

3. Functionalism (Daniel Dennett)

4. Non-reductive biological theory (John Searle)

5. Mysterianism (Noam Chomsky)

6. Cognitive closure (Colin McGinn)

7. Supervenience (Jaegwon Kim)

8. Emergentism (Gerald Vision)

9. Panpsychism (Galen Strawson)

10. Quantum theory (Roger Penrose)

11. The neurobiological approach (Patricia Churchland)

12. Conclusion