Course Information
Course title
Philosophy of Mind 
Semester
109-1 
Designated for
COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS  GRADUATE INSTITUTE OF PHILOSOPHY  
Instructor
Lok-Chi Chan 
Curriculum Number
Phl7748 
Curriculum Identity Number
124 M7130 
Class
 
Credits
3.0 
Full/Half
Yr.
Half 
Required/
Elective
Elective 
Time
Thursday A,B,C(18:25~21:05) 
Remarks
The upper limit of the number of students: 15. 
Ceiba Web Server
http://ceiba.ntu.edu.tw/1091Phl7748_ 
Course introduction video
 
Table of Core Capabilities and Curriculum Planning
Table of Core Capabilities and Curriculum Planning
Course Syllabus
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Course Description

What is mind? What is consciousness? There is a wide range of topics in the philosophy of mind. This course will focus on the basic theoretical frameworks of mind and consciousness: What is the nature of mind or consciousness? What is its place in the physical world? How to develop philosophical and scientific theories of mind and consciousness?

The course will examine the following theories of mind: the identity theory, the supervenience theory, dualism, behaviourism, and functionalism.

The course will examine the following theories of consciousness: representationalism, the higher-order theories, and the integrated information theory.

The course will also inquire into the qualia problem and its challenge to some theories of mind.

The textbook will be David Chalmer’s Philosophy of Mind: Classical and Contemporary Readings, supplemented by Susan Schneider and Max Velmans’s The Blackwell Companion to Consciousness, 2nd Edition. Students are typically required to read 2-3 classical texts (20-25 pages in total) per week. 

Course Objective
The aims of this course are as follows:
(1) Upon completing this course, students will have grasped different theories of mind and consciousness.
(2) Inspiring students to reflect on the contemporary scientific worldview, and thereby reconsider the place of oneself in the universe.
(3) Look closely at the exchange between philosophy and science. 
Course Requirement
每週將閱讀2-3篇心智哲學經典文章或文章摘錄,總頁數通常為20-25頁(約相當於排版較小之書籍之25-30頁)。
同學需完成指定閱讀,並於課堂中進行討論。
 
Student Workload (expected study time outside of class per week)
 
Office Hours
 
Designated reading
Chalmers, David Philosophy of Mind: Classical and Contemporary Readings.
Susan Schneider & Max Velmans, The Blackwell Companion to Consciousness, 2nd Edn.
 
References
Braddon-Mitchell, David & Jackson, Frank 2007, Philosophy of mind and cognition, 2nd edn, Maiden: Blackwell.
Kim, Jaegwon 2011, Philosophy of mind, 3rd edn, Philadelphia: Westview Press.
Chalmers, David 1996, The conscious mind: in search of a fundamental theory, New York: Oxford University Press.
Heil, John 2004, Philosophy of mind, 2nd edn, New York: Routledge. 
Grading
 
No.
Item
%
Explanations for the conditions
1. 
In class  
20% 
Participation, attendance, discussion 
2. 
Homework 
30% 
 
3. 
Oral presentation  
10% 
 
4. 
Final essay 
40% 
 
 
Progress
Week
Date
Topic
Week 1
9/17  Introduction  
Week 2
9/24  二元論(dualism)
Meditations on First Philosophy (II and VI), René Descartes
Passions of the Soul (Excerpt), René Descartes
On the Hypothesis That Animals Are Automata, and Its History (Excerpt), Thomas H. Huxley
An Unfortunate Dualist, Raymond M. Smullyan
 
Week 3
10/01  行為主義(Behaviourism)
Descartes' Myth, Gilbert Ryle
Psychology in Physical Language (Excerpt), Rudolf Carnap
Brains and Behavior, Hilary Putnam
 
Week 4
10/08  同一性理論(The identity theory)
Is Consciousness a Brain Process?, U. T. Place
Sensations and Brain Processes, J. J. C. Smart
The "Mental" and the "Physical" (Excerpt), Herbert Feigl
 
Week 5
10/15  多重實現與隨附性(multiple realizability and supervenience)
Multiple Realization and the Metaphysics of Reduction, Jaegwon Kim
Finding the Mind in the Natural World, Frank Jackson
 
Week 6
10/22  功能主義(Functionalism)
The Nature of Mental States, Hilary Putnam
The Causal Theory of the Mind, D. M. Armstrong
 
Week 7
10/29  功能主義的問題(Problems facing functionalism)
Troubles with Functionalism (Excerpt), Ned Block
Can Computers Think?, John R. Searle
 
Week 8
11/05  心理因果(mental causation)
The Many Problems of Mental Causation (Excerpt), Jaegwon Kim
Mental Causation, Stephen Yablo
 
Week 9
11/12  意識問題(The problem of consciousness)
Concepts of Consciousness, Ned Block
What Is It Like to Be a Bat?, Thomas Nagel
 
Week 10
11/19  感質問題(1):解釋的鴻溝(The qualia problem (I): The explanatory gap)
Materialism and Qualia: The Explanatory Gap, Joseph Levine
Can We Solve the Mind-Body Problem?, Colin McGinn
 
Week 11
11/26  感質問題(2):知識論證(The qualia problem (II): The knowledge argument)
Epiphenomenal Qualia, Frank Jackson
Phenomenal States (Second Version), Brian Loar
 
Week 12
12/03  表徵主義(1)(representationalism (I))
Representationalism about Consciousness, William Seager and David Bourget
Visual Qualia and Visual Content Revisited, Michael Tye
 
Week 13
12/10  表徵主義(2)(representationalism (II))
Introspection and Phenomenal Character, Sydney Shoemaker
 
Week 14
12/17  高階意識理論(1)(Higher-order Theories (I))
Higher-order Theories of Consciousness, Peter Carruthers
The Intermediate level theory of Consciousness, Jesse Prinz
 
Week 15
12/24  高階意識理論(2)(Higher-order Theories (II))
Explaining Consciousness, David M. Rosenthal
Conscious Experience, Fred Dretske
 
Week 16
12/31  整合訊息理論(The Integrated Information Theory)
The Integrated Information Theory of Consciousness: An Outline, Giulio Tononi
Integrated Information Theory of Consciousness: Some Ontological Considerations, Giulio Tononi
 
Week 17
1/07  意識研究的方法論(Research methodologies in consciousness studies )
An Epistemology for the Study of Consciousness, Max Velmans
Phenomenological approaches to consciousness, Shaun Gallagher
 
Week 18
1/14  Oral presentation