PHIL 3350

This course will provide students with an introduction to the study of mind, its place in nature and the world. We all describe ourselves as having minds. But there are very different ways in which we can understand what it is to have a mind. For example, is the mind physical or non-physical? Is there an immaterial soul which inhabits the body? How do sciences such as chemistry, biology, and psychology contribute to the study of mind? And how does the philosophical account of mind differ from such scientific explanations? This course may also consider the nature of cognition, as well as the relation between such thinking processes and the emotions. Some philosophers hold the view that thinking is nothing but computation, while others strongly reject such a view. Interpersonal relations also raise important issues: Can we know that there are other minds and, if so, how much can we know about the contents of other minds? What is the relation between our inner subjective experiences and the world outside our minds? This course may also discuss non-human animals, and in what sense animals may be said to have minds. So, too, there is the question of whether machines could possess a conscious intelligence comparable to the human mind. We are also interested in what, if anything, the identity of a person consists. What is the relation between the mind and consciousness, or between the mind and the self? The Philosophy of Mind addresses many divergent views and the various reasons for them in this vital area of philosophical study.