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2020/2021

Philosophy of Mind

Code: 100316 ECTS Credits: 6
Degree Type Year Semester
2500246 Philosophy OT 3 0
2500246 Philosophy OT 4 0
The proposed teaching and assessment methodology that appear in the guide may be subject to changes as a result of the restrictions to face-to-face class attendance imposed by the health authorities.

Contact

Name:
Olga Fernández Prat
Email:
Olga.Fernandez@uab.cat

Use of Languages

Principal working language:
catalan (cat)
Some groups entirely in English:
No
Some groups entirely in Catalan:
Yes
Some groups entirely in Spanish:
No

Prerequisites

None.

Objectives and Contextualisation

This is an introductory course that covers a good part of the basic questions of the philosophy of the contemporary mind. The course encourages students to take a critically reasoned theoretical position.

Students will have the opportunity to think, discuss and write about fundamental issues in the philosophy of mind like:

1. Which is the relation between mind and brain? 

2. Is mind identical to the brain o is it something else? 

3. How are we able to have thoughts with causal efficacy? 

4. How can we explain our conscious experiences in terms of processed information? 

5. Could a computer think?

6. Are animals selfconscious?  

Competences

    Philosophy
  • Analysing and summarising the main arguments of fundamental texts of philosophy in its various disciplines.
  • Developing critical thinking and reasoning and communicating them effectively both in your own and other languages.
  • Recognising and interpreting topics and problems of philosophy in its various disciplines.
  • Students must be capable of applying their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and they should have building arguments and problem resolution skills within their area of study.
  • Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
  • Students must develop the necessary learning skills to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
  • Thinking in a critical and independent manner on the basis of the specific topics, debates and problems of philosophy, both historically and conceptually.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Ability to maintain an appropriate conversation.
  2. Analysing and summarising information.
  3. Applying philosophical rigour in a written text following the international quality standards.
  4. Carrying out a planning for the development of a subject-related work.
  5. Carrying out oral presentations using an appropriate academic vocabulary and style.
  6. Correctly, accurately and clearly communicating the acquired philosophical knowledge in oral and written form.
  7. Discriminating the features that define the writer's place in the context of a problem and reorganising them in a consistent diagram.
  8. Distinguishing and outlining the fundamental content of a philosophical text.
  9. Effectively communicating and applying the argumentative and textual processes to formal and scientific texts.
  10. Identifying the main and secondary ideas and expressing them with linguistic correctness.
  11. Identifying the main ideas of a related text and drawing a diagram.
  12. Mastering the relevant languages to the necessary degree in the professional practice.
  13. Reading basic philosophical text thoroughly.
  14. Relating the characteristic elements and factors of the philosophical tradition.
  15. Solving problems autonomously.
  16. Submitting works in accordance with both individual and small group demands and personal styles.
  17. Using suitable terminology when drawing up an academic text.

Content

 

1. What is Philosophy of Mind? Its connection with mind sciences. 

2. Intentionality nd mental states: thoughts, experiences and emotions. 

3. Philosophy of Mind, its main problems:

            3.1. The problem of mind-brain relation.

            3.2. The problem of non-human minds.

            3.3. The problem of consciousness.

4. Classical cognitive science.

5. Embodied and enactive approaches to cognitive science.

Methodology

The sessions will be of two types. In some, the teacher will present the theoretical contents necessary to introduce themselves to each one of the subjects that will be treated. Others will have a seminar form where it will be discussed the compulsory readings of the course. These readings will be available in the Campus Virtual.

In order to increase the rigor of the discussions and that the students acquire competences related to the oral activities, each one of the students will have to present one of the readings (according to the number of registered ones it is possible that there will be group presentations).  

It is also required that the rest of the students have read the paper before attending the seminar. Each of the readings is closely related to the topics exposed in class and are fundamental in the subject that is studied.

Activities

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Lectures. 26 1.04 2, 8, 13, 14, 15
Presentation of one of the required readings. 21 0.84 2, 6, 8, 9, 5, 17, 11, 10, 13, 1, 14
Type: Supervised      
Preparing oral presentation. 23 0.92 2, 6, 8, 4, 9, 11, 10, 13, 1, 16
Type: Autonomous      
Required and supplementary readings. 76 3.04 2, 8, 11, 13, 14, 15

Assessment

The total score will be based on:

(i) The score obtained in a written test about topics of the first part of the course and their required readings. (40% of the final score).

(ii) The score obtained in a presentation and its script (20%). 

(iii) The score of a written test about topics of the second half of the course and their required readings (40%).

Students who do not have scores corresponding to two items will be considered as 'No avaluable' students. Those who have can opt to the reavalution of items (i) and (iii). The presentation cannot be reassessed.

The examination and presentation dates and format will be announced in Campus Virtual. Presentation groups will be arranged during the first two weeks of the course. After that moment no student will be allowed to be part of a group. If it possible, this activity will be done online.

Spell checking will be evaluated. The reiteration of spelling or grammatical errors (minimum four) will involve a penalty of 10% of the mark of the test performed.

In the event of a student committing any irregularity that may lead to a significant variation in the grade awarded to an assessment activity, the student will be given a zero for this activity, regardless of any disciplinary process that may take place. In the event of several irregularities in assessment activities of the same subject, the student will be given a zero as the final grade for this subject.

In the event that tests or exams cannot be taken onsite, they will be adapted to an online format made available through the UAB’s virtual tools (original weighting will be maintained). Homework, activities and class participation will be carried out through forums, wikis and/or discussion on Teams, etc. Lecturers will ensure that students are able to access these virtual tools, or will offer them feasible alternatives.

 

 

 

Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Examination on topics of the first part of the course and their required readings. 40% 1.5 0.06 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 12, 4, 9, 17, 11, 10, 13, 16, 14, 15
Examination on topics of the second part of the course and their required readings. 40% 1.5 0.06 2, 6, 7, 8, 12, 9, 5, 11, 10, 13, 1, 16, 14, 15
Presentation of one of the required readings. 20% 1 0.04 2, 6, 7, 8, 4, 9, 5, 17, 11, 10, 13, 1, 16, 14

Bibliography

Bechtel, William. (1988). Philosophy of mind: An overview for cognitive science, Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Dennett, Daniel C. (1991) Consciousness Explained, Little, Brown and Co. (v.c. La consciencia explicada Barcelona: Paidós, 1996).

Campbell, Keith (1984) Body and Mind, Chicago: University of Notre Dame Press. (v.c. Cuerpo y mente. México: UNAM, 1987).

Chalmers, David (1996) The Conscious Mind, Oxford: Oxford University Press (v.c. La mente consciente. Barcelona: Gedisa, 1999).

Churchland, Patricia (1989), Neurophilosophy: Toward a Unified Science of Mind-Brain, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Churchland, Paul (1988) Matter and Consciousness, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. (v.c. Materia y conciencia. Barcelona: Gedisa, 1992)

García-Carpintero, Manuel (2000) ‘Las razones para el dualismo’, a P. Chacón Fuertes y M. Rodríguez González (eds.) Pensando la mente. Madrid: Biblioteca Nueva.

Gregory, Richard L. (director) Diccionario Oxford de la mente. Madrid: Alianza, 1995.

Lowe, Edward J. (2000), Filosofía de la mente, Barcelona: Idea Books.

Pineda, David (2012), La mente humana. Introducción a la filosofía de la psicología, Madrid: Cátedra.

Searle, John (1997) The Mystery of Consciousness, New York Review of Books. (v.c. El misterio de la conciencia: intercambios con Daniel C. Dennett y David J. Chalmers Barcelona: Paidós, 2000).

 

Recursos electrònics:

Stanford Enciclopedia of Philosophy: http://plato.stanford.edu/

David Chalmers Philosophy of Mind WebPage: http://consc.net

Dictionary of Philosophy of Mind: http://philosophy.uwaterloo.ca/MindDict/

Mind and Body: From Descartes to James: http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/Mind/Table.html