Philosophy of Mind

Code:

MFIL009

Acronym:

FM

Instance: 2011/2012 - 2S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Department of Philosophy
Course/CS Responsible:	Masters in Philosophy

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
MFIL	15	MFIL - Study Plan	1	-	10	58	270

Teaching language

Portuguese

Objectives

The main aims of the seminar are: i) to initiate the study of basic topics and issues within the scope of Philosophy of Mind; ii) to organize all literature, authors and research works that are being developed in this area; iii) to explain a few correlations between the recent history of research in Philosophy of Mind and in Cognitive Science. All classes will mainly focus on the analysis and discussion of classic or especially relevant texts related to Philosophy of Mind.

Program

1. Introduction

1.1 Basic aspects of the logical frame of philosophy of mind. Simple propositions; implications, equivalence, consistency and inconsistency; modality (possibility, necessity and contingency) and possible worlds.
1.2 Basic aspects of the historical frame of the (recent) philosophy of mind. From the monism and dualism positions in ancient and modern philosophy to different contemporary forms of materialism/natural physicalism.
1.3 A general explanation of the phenomenon dealt by philosophy of mind. Actions. Attitudes (propositions). Experiences.

2. Texts and topics

2.1 C. G. Hempel, "The Logical Analysis of Psychology": behaviour/logical (or analytical) behaviour and its issues.
2.2 J. J. C. Smart, "Sensations and Brain Processes": the theory of the identity mind-body/brain and its issues.
2.3 H. Putnam, "The Nature of Mental States": the Turing functionalism (or machine) and its issues.
2.4 P. M. Churchland, "Eliminative Materialism and the Propositional Attitudes": the eliminative materialism and its issues.
2.5 J. A. Fodor, "Psychosemantics - Introduction: The Persistence of the Attitudes": the symbolic computational functionalism and its issues.
2.6 D. Chalmers, "The Conscious Mind - Can Consciousness Be Reductively Explained?": the problem of consciousness and some of its developments.

BIBLIOGRAFIA

[Manuais e obras de referência]
Block, Ned, Ed., Readings in Philosophy of Psychology - Vol. 1, Cambridge MA, Harvard U. Press, 1980.
Block, Ned; Flanagan, Owen; Guzeldere, Guven, Ed., The Nature of Consciousness - Philosophical Debates, Cambridge MA, MIT Press, 1997.
Bradley, Raymond; Swartz, Norman, Possible Worlds – An Introduction to Logic and Its Philosophy, Indianapolis, Hackett/Blackwell, 1979.
Chalmers, David, The Conscious Mind – In Search of a Fundamental Theory, NY/Oxford, Oxford U. Press, 1996.
Fodor, Jerry, Psychosemantics – The Problem of Meaning in the Philosophy of Mind, Cambridge MA, MIT Press, 1987.
Guttenplan, Samuel, Ed., A Companion to the Philosophy of Mind, Oxford, Blackwell, 1994.
Kim, Jaegwon, Philosophy of Mind, Oxford, Westview, 1996.
Kim, Jaegwon, Mind in a Physical World – An Essay on the Mind-Body Problem and Mental Causation, Cambridge MA, MIT Press, 1998.
Lycan, Wiilliam, Ed., Mind and Cognition - A Reader, Oxford, Blackwell, 1990.
Moser, Paul K.; Trout, J. D., Ed., Contemporary Materialism – A Reader, London/NY, Routledge, 1995.
Pinto, João Alberto, Superveniência, Materialismo e Experiência - Uma perspectiva sobre o problema da consciência em filosofia da mente, Porto, Campo das Letras, 2007.
Wilson, Robert; Keil, Frank, Ed., The MIT Encyclopedia of the Cognitive Sciences, Cambridge MA, MIT Press, 1999.

[Outros recursos]
David Chalmers, Ed., David Bourget, Mind Papers – A Bibliography of the Philosophy of Mind and the Science of Consciousness [An annotated bibliography]: http://consc.net/mindpapers
Edward N. Zalta, Ed., The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: http://www.plato.stanford.edu

Mandatory literature

Miguens Sofia; Será que a minha mente está dentro da minha cabeça?, Campo das Letras, 2008
Miguens Sofia; Uma Teoria Fisicalista do Conteúdo e da Consciência - D. Dennett e os debates da filosofia da mente, Campo das Letras, 2003

Teaching methods and learning activities

Seminar sessions will consist in analysing and critically discussing the articles and excerpts of literature listed above, as well as other relevant material. There is the possibility of inviting a guest lecturer to address a few specific topics.

keywords

Humanities > Philosophy > Metaphysics

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation without final exam

Assessment Components

Description	Type	Time (hours)	Weight (%)	End date
Attendance (estimated)	Participação presencial	50,00
Presentation and discussion of essays	Trabalho escrito	5,00
	Total:	-	0,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Description	Type	Time (hours)	End date
Preparation of essays	Estudo autónomo	100
Study of contents	Estudo autónomo	115
	Total:	215,00

Eligibility for exams

Students are required to attend at least 75% of classes, except in cases foreseen in the Assessment Regulations and those students who successfully passed in the previous academic year.

Calculation formula of final grade

Mark awarded to written individual works (presented and defended in seminar sessions).

Examinations or Special Assignments

Not applicable

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

Accordance with Assessment Regulations in force.

Classification improvement

Accordance with Assessment Regulations in force.