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We shall examine contemporary attempts in analytical philosophy of mind to define and explain the phenomenon of consciousness. The central question will be whether or not consciousness can be explained in a scientific and naturalistic way: whether, for example, it can be understood as a state of the brain, or as reducible to "functional states", or by a physicist theory involving sub-atomic quantum events. We will pay attention to the so-called "mysterians" who think that a naturalist explanation, though in principle possible, is humanly unattainable. We will also consider emergentist theory and the recent revival of panpsychism, which are also naturalistic theories, although they go beyond strict physicalism. Throughout the course we will also bear in mind the different conceptions of consciousness that are presupposed by the philosophers whom we discuss.
Texts can be found on Moodle at: https://dl1.cuni.cz/course/view.php?id=9042 Poslední úprava: Hill James, prof., Ph.D. (03.02.2020)
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Course Requirements Each week there will be a reading available which will be the subject of our discussion in the seminar. The reading is an essential part of the course, and students will lose their way if they fail to do it. 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 1,000-1,500 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 1st, 2020. Essays cannot be accepted after this date, nor can they be accepted in electronic form, but should be handed in on paper. It is important that Erasmus students do not leave Prague before I have had the opportunity to mark their essay as we may need to discuss the piece to determine the grade. Students whose essay does not meet the requirements will have the opportunity to rewrite. In such cases the maximum attainable grade will be a 3. Poslední úprava: Hill James, prof., Ph.D. (31.01.2020)
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Course Plan: 1. Introduction: consciousness and naturalism 2. Identity theory 3. Functionalism and ‘non-reductive physicalism’ 4. Neurobiological theory 5. Representationalism 6. Mysterianism 7. Cognitive closure 8. Emergentism 9. Panpsychism 10. Panqualityism 11. Quantum theory 12. Conclusion Poslední úprava: Hill James, prof., Ph.D. (31.01.2020)
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