PHL347: Philosophy of Mind: Syllabus: Spring 2007 PHL347 The Philosophy of Mind INSTRUCTOR: Larry Hauser email:  hauser@alma.edu Office:  SAC 347: Phone: 7219 Office Hours: 3-4 Mon. | 9-10 Tue. | 12-1 Mon. & Tue. or by appointment LH's Virtual Office: http://members.aol.com/lshauser/virtoff.html

• Required Text: Consciousness, An Introduction, by Susan Blackmore
• Additional Readings:
  • Week 1: "Zombies, Blade Runner, and the Mind-Body Problem" (online)
  • Week 2: "Look Who's Moving the Goal-Posts Now" (online)
  • Week 3: "Don't Go There: Reply to Crooks " (online)

DESCRIPTION: To wonder, for instance, whether computers really have the mental qualities their (seeming) acts of sensing, inferring, and deciding things ordinarily would indicate, is to wonder if they're conscious.  So many say.  Yet many (including some of the same ones) acknowledge there to be such things as "unconscious mental states."  So, what is thought, anyway?  And how is it related to consciousness?  How are both related to brains?  And what, pray tell, is consciousness?  What is it?  Who has it?  How do we know?  (How do I even know about you?)  This course considers a wide range of work (much recent, some ancient) in philosophy, psychology, computer science, and other disciplines bearing on such questions.  The course culminates in a colloquium series where students present their papers .