When a person says, "I see a yellowish-orange after-image," he is saying something like this: "There is something going on which is like what is going on when I have my eyes open, am awake, and there is an orange illuminated in good light in front of me ..."

J.J.C. Smart, "Sensations and Brain Processes"

Preliminary Syllabus
Philosophy 202

Philosophy of Psychology

PDF Version

Instructor:    
David Hilbert
1422 University Hall
(312)996-5490
hilbert@uic.edu

Office Hours:      
Tuesday, Thursday 11:00-12:00
Wednesday 1:00-2:00
or by appointment

TA:
Joseph Gottlieb
1424 UH
joseph.gottlieb@gmail.com

Office Hours:      
Thursday 10:45-12:45
or by appointment

Book:            Armstrong, D. M. 1999. The Mind-Body Problem. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Course web site:      Assignments, syllabus, and much of the reading will be available in Blackboard as well as on this site.
Course Requirements:      1 1200 word paper, 2 2400 word papers, final, class participation, in-class quizzes, section (papers 45%, final 25%, section participation 15%, attendance and quizzes 15%)


Course Outline


Week

Topic

Reading

Jan. 9

Introduction and Cartesian Dualism

Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy, excerpts
Armstrong, Chs. 1-2

Jan. 16

Humean Dualism

Hume, Treatise, excerpts
Armstrong, Ch. 3

 

Paper #1 due, Jan. 24, in class

 

Jan. 23

Epiphenomenalism

Armstrong, Ch. 4, Appendix

Jan. 30

Behaviorism

J. B. Watson, “Is thinking merely the action of language mechanisms?”
Gilbert Ryle, The Concept of Mind, excerpt
Armstrong, Ch. 5

Feb. 6

The identity theory

U. T. Place, “Is consciousness a brain process?”
Smart, J. J. C. (1959). Sensations and brain processes. Phil. Rev. 68: 141-56.
 Armstrong, Ch. 6

Feb. 13

Eliminativism

Churchland, P. M. (1981). Eliminative materialism and the propositional attitudes. J. Phil. 78(2): 67-90.
Horgan, T. and J. Woodward (1985). Folk psychology is here to stay. Phil. Rev. 94(2): 197-225.
Armstrong, Ch. 8

Feb. 20

Functionalism and identity

Lewis, D. K. (1966). An argument for the identity theory. J. Phil. 63(1): 17-25.
Armstrong, Chs. 7, 9

 

Paper #2 due, Feb. 28, in class

 

Feb. 27

Functionalism stands alone

Fodor, J. A. (1974). Special sciences (or: The disunity of science as a working hypothesis). Synthese 28(2): 97-115.

Mar. 5

Functionalism applied

Dennett, D. C. (1975). Why the law of effect will not go away. Journal of the Theory of Social Behavior 5: 169-87.

Mar. 12

Qualia

Jackson, F. (1982). Epiphenomenal qualia. Phil. Quarterly 32: 127-36.

Mar. 19

Spring Break

 

Mar. 26

Heuristics and Biases

Tversky, A. and D. Kahneman, “Extensional versus intuitive reasoning”

Kahneman, “Maps of bounded rationality”

Apr. 2

Dual factor theories of cognition

TBD

 

Paper #3 due, Apr. 10, in class

 

Apr. 9

Stereotype threat

TBD

Apr. 16

Implicit bias

TBD

Apr. 25

TBD

 

 

Final exam, TBA