Spring 2006
MWF 2:40 – 3:55, Upjohn Library 307
Co-instructor: Dr. Ashley McDowell
Office: 202 Humphrey House
Office phone: 337-7077
email: mcdowell@kzoo.edu or ashley.mcdowell@gmail.com
Office hours: MTWF 1:30 – 2:30;
and by appointment, except on Thursdays (unless there is an emergency)
Co-instructor: Dr. Stephen Petersen
Office: 201 Humphrey House
Office phone: 337-7040
email: petersen@kzoo.edu (this is the best way to contact me)
Office hours: TW 10-12;
and by
appointment
Note on Moodle: this course website will include at least some useful information – go to http://moodle.kzoo.edu/moodle/ and find our course, and get yourself logged on.
Note on email: We will be sending mail to the class alias, which only knows your K email address. Make sure your K email is forwarded to whatever email account you use regularly, if it’s something else.
Texts
and Readings
· Brian Cooney, The Place of Mind: Wadsworth (TPM)
· Gary Watson, ed., Free Will, 2nd Edition: Oxford University Press (FW)
· (optional) Douglas Hofstadter and Daniel Dennett, The Mind’s I: Basic Books
· (optional) John Perry, A Dialogue on Personal Identity and Immortality: Hackett Publishing
· readings on the Internet and on reserve as announced
This course is about philosophical issues in the areas of
metaphysics and philosophy of mind, and at their intersection. Metaphysics is the study of the nature of
reality, and philosophy of mind studies metaphysical issues having to do with
minds. A philosophical study of these
topics is one in which we give thoughtful reasons for positions on various
issues. In this course, through
readings, lecture, and discussion, you will learn about the views of prominent
historical and contemporary philosophers on some key issues in metaphysics and
mind.
In particular, we will focus on four main topics
(the first two taught by Ashley and the second two by Steve). The first issue we’ll discuss, the
“mind/body problem,” involves questions about the nature of mind and its relation
to body. Is the mind a nonphysical soul-like
entity, or is the mind the brain, or is it the software that runs on the
brain’s hardware, or is it something else?
The next issue is really a subissue of the mind/body problem: the
“problem” of consciousness. Can the
qualitative part of our experience – the part involving what it feels like
to be in various states – be captured in purely physical terms, or is it
inescapably nonphysical? The third
issue is that of “identity” and “personal identity.” This involves questions of what makes an object, and in
particular a person, “the same” over time.
If we replace every plank on a ship gradually, is it the same ship at
the end of the process? Every molecule
in your body is replaced about every seven years – are you a new person after
the last molecule goes? If not, what does
make you the same person – your memories, personality, a causal link to the
past, or what? The final issue is that
of free will. Does modern scientific
knowledge entail that none of our actions is really free? What is it for an action to be free,
anyway?
In studying these issues we will be doing a variety
of readings. Most of them will be
academic philosophical articles, although a couple will stray into supporting
material from literature and science fiction.
The ideas and arguments in all of the readings will be deep and
challenging. You should expect to do
most readings more than once. As we
will discuss, there will be important interconnections and dependency relations
among the readings, so you must also keep up with the reading assignments.
The
class will be a combination of lecture and discussion, and all students will be
expected to contribute. In-class
discussions will be conducted with respect and a mutual interest in solving
these problems, so that all views will be open to thoughtful criticism. We will
be approaching other views – and our own – with an open-minded but critical
eye. The focus will be on providing and
assessing arguments for positions, to try to come to the most thoughtful
position possible on these questions.
Students will be evaluated on how well you have learned the views and
arguments of the authors studied, and how well you formulate original arguments
for your own positions.
In class, we will take questions about the readings
and previous class’s material, lecture on the current reading, and engage in
seminar-style discussion. We will
generally assume that you have understood the material adequately, unless you
indicate otherwise. We welcome questions, as they are one of the only ways for
us to know what is unclear to you.
You will be responsible for completing the readings
before each class, and for being prepared to discuss those readings. Give yourself plenty of time to do these
readings carefully – again, they can be quite difficult. We may give you occasional in-class or
out-of-class assignments, which will rely upon sincere attempts to understand
the readings.
We expect regular attendance in this class. Although attendance makes up no official
percentage of your grade, missing class will negatively affect it. Repeatedly missing class may result in a
substantial lowering of your grade for the course.
Office hours are held for purposes such as
discussing course materials, helping you understand readings, working on
philosophical skills, and going over drafts of assignments. Please take full advantage of them.
(for policies on all assignments and on specific
assignments, see “Policies” section below)
You will be writing four papers for this course, on
topics centered around the four main segments of the course (mind/body,
consciousness, identity, free will).
The first and third papers will be worth 10% of your
total grade each, and will be about 3 pages long. The second and fourth papers will be worth 20% each, and will be
about 5 pages long. The second paper in
each half of the course is worth more because we will expect you to have
learned more about writing a paper based on the feedback from your first effort
for each of us. We will give you
relatively detailed instructions on what we expect in papers; you should take
our expectations quite seriously.
The point of these papers is to
construct and present a philosophical argument for a thesis. One goal is to apply for yourself the
principles of reasoning, insight, philosophical writing, and argumentation
modeled and taught in this class. The
other goal is to craft a carefully considered position on an issue, grappling
with fundamental problems in your own way.
These will not be research papers; we don’t encourage you to look at
sources other than those assigned in class, and if you do, you should check
with us before you do so that we can advise you on the quality of the resource.
We will be able to look at rough
drafts, either turned in or during office hours; we will let you know details
as the time gets nearer. We also
encourage you to run rough drafts by each other or your peers at the Writing
Center.
Final exam (30%)
The final exam for this course
will take place from 1-4 pm on Wednesday of exam week. It will be cumulative, and consist of one
part written by Ashley on her segment of the course and one part written by
Steve on his segment of the course. It
may include short answers, identification and explanation of significance of
quotations, and essays.
Participation and conduct (10%)
This will be a participation-intensive course. In a philosophy class of this kind,
discussion is absolutely essential, and may be the way you learn most about the
material. We know that participation is
difficult for some people, but you can consider this a safe place to practice
contributing to a group discussion, which you will surely need to do throughout
your life. We will require and ensure
that conversation in class, although probably critical of ideas, will
not be critical of people. We
expect that we will get to know each other well enough to feel comfortable
talking relatively quickly. We also
intend to make it apparent that you will not be thought worse of for saying
anything, as long as you are speaking respectfully.
We will keep general track of your contributions in
class. Keep in mind that contributions
can take various forms, including asking for clarification, participation in
group discussion, and giving helpful examples.
Keep in mind also that more does not necessarily mean better: those who
excessively dominate discussions, speak disrespectfully, or otherwise use their
voices in a negative way may be penalized for doing so. If you are in doubt, ask us.
Class conduct does not carry an official weight in
this course, but will be taken into account at final grade time. Your conduct in this class includes
improvement and effort. It also
includes issues of respectful behavior, such as tardiness, excessive absence,
distracting behavior, or disrespectful behavior towards members of the class or
us. See the “rules of civility and
discourse” below for more information.
Attendance policy: Attendance is expected. Although it does not carry any formal weight in the grade, it will make a difference to your participation and conduct grade if you are absent excessively (more than a couple of times during the quarter). Absences will be excused for required sports activities or practices or for a dire personal circumstance.
Assignment responsibilities:
-
It
is your responsibility to retain copies of all assignments you turn in, in a
reliable format.
-
You
must turn in your papers in class, with your name on the back, written
legibly. This is so no biases of ours
interfere with our grading of your work.
-
If
you turn in a paper late, by email (this is only possible with our permission),
or in any other way that makes it differently turned in from those of the rest
of the class members, you should not expect to get it back at the same time as
everyone else.
-
When
you turn in your papers, you must turn in a copy of a rough draft and an
outline of the paper (with your name written on the back of each). We cannot recommend outlining and revising philosophy
papers enough, and so we want to make absolutely sure you’re doing both. An outline also sometimes helps us
understand the intentions of your paper better.
Late
assignment policy: An assignment that is between one hour and 24 hours late
will receive a ½ grade reduction. An
assignment that is between one day and two weeks late will receive a full grade
reduction. Assignments will not be
accepted more than two weeks late.
A note on reading: don’t succumb to the misconception that in
order to read something you only have to move your eyes over the lines, or
“read it out loud in your head,” so to speak.
What we expect is that you will read the material in a more
sophisticated way, thinking as you go.
You should be asking yourself the main points, making sure you
understand the structure of the reading, thinking about how this reading
relates to others you’ve done, and otherwise working to comprehend the
material, not just to complete a technical “reading” of it. You might try highlighting, underlining,
making marginal notes, or outlining – whatever helps you focus and
understand. By the way, don’t forget to
read the footnotes or endnotes as well as the main text in your readings; and
to read any reflections, introductions, and review questions that directly
accompany the readings.
In
this course, you will be expected to behave like what we are sure you are – a
civil person interested in entering into an atmosphere that is maintained to be
courteous and respectful. Just so that
our expectations are clear, let us express some specific guidelines. In order to create a smooth and harmonious
learning community,
-
take
care not to disrupt class; please
o
wait
until class is over to pack up
o
turn
off cell phones
o
do
not look at any material other than class material
o
stay
awake during class
o
arrive
on time
-
to
allow everyone to stay focused on the class lecture or discussion,
o
only
one person at a time in the class should be speaking. Side conversations are distracting for surrounding students and
for us.
-
to
ensure the best possible environment for discussion, please
o
no
“hogging the floor”
o
no
blaming or shaming
o
no
personal attacks
o
always
respect the confidentiality of the classroom
o
keep
your contributions aimed at our common goals: discovery, progress, and
learning, not winning, making the “other side” look bad, or getting
attention.
§
If
you violate one of these discussion rules, we will likely point it out to you
in class or afterwards.
§
If
you think someone else is violating one of these discussion rules, we encourage
you to raise the issue (without blaming, shaming, or personal attack!)
Grading scheme:
Paper 1: 10%
Paper 2: 20%
Paper 3: 10%
Paper 4: 20%
Final exam: 30%
Participation and conduct: 10%
Academic integrity and the Honor System
“It
is always important to think of the intellectual world as a community of mutual
dependence, mutual helpfulness, mutual protectiveness, and common delight. We take ideas from others and we give them
to others. We are indebted to others, and
others are indebted to us. In sharing
and acknowledging the community, we define ourselves more certainly as
individuals. The ability to describe
our sources is also an ability to define our own originality and our own
selves. All communities depend on
generosity, trust, definition, and the proper use of sources is part of the
mortar that holds the community of the mind together.”
-
Richard
Marius, Expository Writing Program, Harvard University
In
this class, as in all classes at Kalamazoo College, we will be operating under
the Honor System. It is important that
you familiarize yourself with that system.
You should also familiarize yourself with proper procedures for collaborating,
doing research, and citing sources.
Should you have any questions about citations, plagiarism, or honor
system issues, please visit or contact us.
Any assignment you turn in that we
find to violate academic integrity, either through dishonesty, plagiarism, lack
of appropriate citations, or unauthorized collaboration, will result in a
failing grade in the class and a report to the dean of students as minimum
sanctions.[1]
If you have any special needs that we can
accommodate, please let us know as soon as possible.
This schedule is tentative. Any changes will be announced in class and by email and/or on the Moodle site. The reading assignments listed for each day must be completed before that class. Readings are found in your textbooks as indicated, or will be available on the Internet or on reserve.
M Introduction to Class, Metaphysics,
and Philosophy of Mind
PART ONE:
THE
MIND/BODY PROBLEM
W Descartes, from Meditations (TPM 1), and introduction and postscript to Ryle, “Descartes’ Myth” (TPM 2)
F Elizabeth of Bohemia, from correspondence with Descartes (on reserve), and Smullyan, “An Unfortunate Dualist” (on reserve, and in The Mind’s I)
M Place, “Is
Consciousness a Brain Process?” and Smart, “Sensations and Brain Processes”
(TPM 5 and 6)
W Rorty, “Mind-Body
Identity, Privacy, and Categories” (TPM 8)
F P.M. Churchland,
“Eliminative Materialism” (TPM 9)
M Armstrong, “The
Nature of Mind” and Fodor, “Materialism” (TPM 10 and 11)
W Hofstadter, “Prelude…Ant Fugue” (on reserve and in The Mind’s I)
F Searle, “Minds, Brains, and Programs” (on reserve and in The Mind’s I)
THE PROBLEM OF
CONSCIOUSNESS
M Nagel, “What Is It Like to Be a Bat?” (TPM 22; optional: read reflections in The Mind’s I) and Jackson, “Epiphenomenal Qualia” (TPM 24)
W P.S. Churchland and P.M. Churchland, “Functionalism, Qualia, and Intentionality” (TPM 25)
F McGinn, “Can We Solve the Mind-Body Problem?” (TPM 26)
M Chalmers, “Facing Up to the Problem of Consciousness” (TPM 27)
W Loar, “Phenomenal States” (TPM 28)
PART
THREE:
PERSONAL
IDENTITY
F Chisholm, “Human Freedom and the Self” (online)
WEEK SIX
M Perry, “A Dialogue…” – first two nights
W Perry, “A Dialogue…” – third night
F Parfit, “Reasons and Persons” (TPM 31)
WEEK SEVEN
M Nagel, “Brain Bisection and the
Unity of Consciousness” (TPM 32)
W Dennett, “Why Everyone Is a
Novelist” (TPM 33)
PART
FOUR:
FREE
WILL AND DETERMINISM
(all readings in this section are from Watson, FW)
F Smart, “Free Will, Praise and Blame”
WEEK EIGHT
M G. Strawson, “The Impossibility of Moral Responsibility”
W Nagel, “Freedom”
F Clarke, “Toward a Credible Agent-Causal Account of Free Will”
M Kane, “Responsibility, Luck, and Chance”
W Frankfurt, “Freedom of the Will and the Concept of a Person”
F Wolf, “Sanity and the Metaphysics of Responsibility”
M Memorial
Day Holiday – no class
W Pettit and Smith, “Freedom in Belief and Desire”
F Day of
Gracious Living buffer day – adjust above accordingly