Course Syllabus

 

Course Outline:

This paper is an introduction to some recent developments in the philosophy of mind which intersect with cognitive science. Cognitive science is an interdisciplinary approach to the mind that covers several disciplines including psychology, neuroscience, computer science and philosophy, and is premised on the assumption that the mind is an information processor. In this course, we will cover four themes at this intersection, viz. (1) consciousness, (2) perception, (3) cognition and (4) emotion. In particular, we will seek to address the following questions:

• What is the relationship between phenomenal consciousness and the representational mind?
• How should we understand perception, e.g. is perception really a form of action?
• What is the best way to think about the architecture of the human mind?
• Are emotions crucial to practical reasoning?

 

Course Convener:

Dr. Raamy Majeed

Office hours: Tuesdays 11-12

Humanities Building, Room 419

r.majeed@auckland.ac.nz

 

Tutor:

Darryl Betts

Office Hours: Thursdays 12-1

Humanities Building, Room 306

darryl.betts@datelstream.co.nz

 

 

Well-being always comes first We all go through tough times during the semester, or see our friends struggling. There is lots of help out there - for more information, look at this Canvas page, which has links to various support services in the University and the wider community.

Assessment:

There will be no final exam for this course. The assessment for it will comprise of two essays, the first worth 40% and the second 60%. For students taking PHIL200, the word count for the essays will be set at 2,000 for the first essay and 3,000 for the second. For those enrolled in PHIL320, the word count for both essays will be set at 3,000 words. The first essay is due Monday 29th of April, and the second Monday 24th of June (2019).

 

Readings:

The readings for the course will be a selection of articles, which will be posted on the Reading List. Note: Students are required to do the readings before their tutorials, where they will have the opportunity to discuss the material in detail.

For students who haven’t taken PHIL100, I recommend reading Tim Crane’s The Mechanical Mind: A Philosophical Introduction to Minds, Machines and Mental Representation (3rd edition) as background reading.

 

Schedule:

• Weeks 1-3: Representation and Consciousness
• Weeks 4-6: Perception and Action
• Weeks 7-9: Modularity of the Mind
• Weeks 10-12: Emotion and Reasoning

 

Weekly Readings:

Representation and Consciousness

1. Intentionalism, by Tim Crane

2. Representationalist Theories of Consciousness, by Michael Tye

3. Phenomenology, Intentionality, and the Unity of the Mind, by George Graham, Terence Horgan and John Tienson

 

Perception and Action

4. Action-Based Accounts of Perception, by Pierre Jacob 

5. Perceptual Representation/Perceptual Content, by Bence Nanay

6. TBA

 

Modularity of the Mind

7. Precis of The Modularity of Mind (pgs. 1-5), by Jerry Fodor

8. Cognitive Penetrability of Perception, by Dustin Stokes

9. Thought in a Hostile World: The Evolution of Cognition (chapter 10), by Kim Sterelny

 

Emotion and Reasoning

10. Emotions: Motivating Feelings, By Jessie Prinz

11. Emotion, Motivation, and Action, by Christine Tappolet

12. Emotions and Motivation: Reconsidering Neo-Jamesian Accounts, by Bennet Helm

 

Readings for the Essays: 

Representation and Consciousness

- Consciousness, Colour and Content, by Michael Tye, or

- Ten Problems of Consciousness, by Michael Tye

 

Perception and Action

- Between Perception and Action, by Bence Nanay 

 

Modularity of the Mind

- The Architecture of the Mind, by Peter Carruthers

 

Emotion and Reasoning

- Gut Reactions: A Perceptual Theory of Emotions, by Jesse Prinz