What is the nature of the mind? How does it relate to a body and the external world? What makes someone the same person over time? Is it the persistence of the same body? Questions such as these have been the focus of philosophical thinking about the mind for hundreds of years. But they have taken on new urgency with the development of sciences such as psychology, cognitive science, and cognitive neuroscience. In this class, we will consider some of the most important historical answers offered to the questions above, as well as some of the views philosophers have developed in response to the contemporary sciences of the mind.

PHIL 20208 is a philosophy course focusing on the philosophy of mind. As a philosophy course, we will examine the philosophical positions and arguments our philosophers offer. As a course that focuses on the philosophy of mind, we will mainly explore the nature of the mind and its relationship with the body. Successful completion of this course will enable students to:

• Understand some central topics in the philosophy of mind, including the nature of the mind, its relationship with the body and the brain, the nature of personal identity, and a few other related philosophical topics.

• Improve their ability to articulate, analyze, evaluate, and criticize philosophical arguments in discussion and writing.

• Develop their skills in a cooperative philosophical discussion that aims at the shared goal of better understanding the texts, positions, and arguments.

• Attendance: We meet twice a week, but each time we focus on different topics. If you miss class, you will miss some critical discussions, and the rest of us will miss your contributions. That said, I realize that even the most diligent students have to miss a class on occasion due to illness or some other emergency. Please notify me if you have such an issue.

• Participation: While there will most likely be a lecture component in every class meeting, your discussion will also drive each meeting to a significant degree. So, your participation constitutes a significant portion of your course grade. Active participation includes things like attentively listening, asking questions, offering supporting evidence for someone’s claim, and even clarifying what someone else has said. Of course, not everyone is equally comfortable talking in front of the class. If that is you, then talk with me, and we will work on ways to help you participate in class but potentially also outside of class.

• Preparation: Because participation in discussion is central to this course, it is important that you come to the class prepared: carefully read the required texts, take notes on them, and formulate questions about them for the discussion.

• Weekly Assignments: The weekly assignment is designed to keep you engaged with the reading by having you review the argument and keep a critical eye open for things you might disagree with or questions you might have. These assignments should easily be manageable if you’ve done the readings and actively engaged in all in-class activities. In each assignment, there will be three questions regarding the readings covered that week. One of the questions is compulsory. As for the other two questions, you only have to answer one of them. You will be assigned 11 short assignments throughout the semester, but only the ten highest scores will be counted in your final grade.

• Term Paper: You will write a research paper of around 15 double-spaced pages due by 9 p.m. on May 5. Writing a research paper is a process that includes exploring the field and literature, identifying an appropriately focused topic, gathering suitable secondary literature, creating an annotated bibliography, formulating a thesis, gathering evidence and counter-evidence for your thesis, drafting the paper, consulting with others, and rewriting your paper. To assist you in the process, you will have a second set of weekly tasks to complete during the second half of the course. And during the last four class meetings, each of you will have a chance to present your project and gather feedback from other members of the class.

See the Syllabus