PHL2171

Winter Session 2023

Philosophy of Mind: Consciousness, Qualia and Qualities


The core of the problem of consciousness is its intuitively evident ‘phenomenal’ aspect, or its possession of ‘qualia’. Our best scientific theories of the nature of the world seem to have no place for this qualitative element, and offer no account of how it could emerge from a world fundamentally devoid of it. This tension in our overall metaphysical picture of the world leads to a host of questions. This course aims to look at three very basic ones: (1) What are qualia?; (2) Are there any?; and (3) Are they in the mind?

Instructor

Bill Seager
Office: TBA
E-mail: Bill Seager
Office Hrs: by appointment.

Schedule: Classes will meet Tuesdays, 3-6pm in JHB418 (beginning January 10, 2023).

Requirements

This will be a seminar course and students will be expected to present two seminars (accompanied by a short paper of approximately 1000 words). At the end of term, a final paper will be due (length about three thousand words or so). Seminar topics will be arranged by mutual agreement, so please let me know which readings strike your fancy and I will try to co-ordinate your requests.



Course Schedule

Jan. 10 Introductory Meeting, No Reading. No seminar scheduled.
Jan. 17 Radical Empiricism

Ernst Mach (1900) ‘Introductory Remarks: Antimetaphysical’ from The Analysis of Sensations.
William James (1904) ‘Does Consciousness Exist’ The Journal of Philosophy, Psychology and Scientific Methods.


Valentin Wey (Mach)

Marybel Menzies (James)
Jan. 24 Revisioning Matter

Bertrand Russell (1927) Chs. 37 and 38 of The Analysis of Matter.
Arthur Eddington (1929) Introduction and Ch. 12 of The Nature of the Physical World.

Andrew Doppenberg (Russell)
Nate Oppel (Eddington)
Jan. 31 Scientific Irrealism

Larry Laudan (1981) ‘A Confutation of Convergent Realism’ Philosophy of Science.
Bas van Fraassen (1981) Ch. 2 of The Scientific Image.

Andrew Doppenberg / Zachery Tsang (Laudan)
Valentin Wey (van Fraassen)
Feb. 7 ** No class this week.

No seminar scheduled.
Feb. 14 Limiting Science

Arthur Fine (1986) ‘The Natural Ontological Attitude’, Ch. 7 of The Shaky Game.
Nancy Cartwright (1999) Introduction and Ch. 1 of The Dappled World: A Study of the Boundaries of Science.

Nancy Wu (Fine)

Cassandra Williams (Cartwright)
Feb. 21 Reading Week No seminar scheduled.
Feb. 28 Structuralism

James Ladyman (1998) ‘What is Structural Realism?’ Studies in the History and Philosophy of Science.
Bas van Fraassen (2007) ‘Stucturalism(s) About Science: Some Common Problems’ Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society Supplementary Volume.

Cameron Yetman (Ladyman)

Patrick Fraser (van Fraassen)
Mar. 7 Classical Qualia

Thomas Nagel (1974) ‘What is it Like to be a Bat?’ The Philosophical Review.
Frank Jackson (1982) ‘Epiphenomenal Qualia’ The Philosophical Quarterly.
Daniel Dennett (1988) ‘Quining Qualia’ in A. Marcel & E. Bisiach (eds.) Consciousness in Contemporary Science.

Ethan Xu (Nagel)

Marybel Menzies (Jackson)

Ariel Lafayette (Dennett)
Mar. 14 Transparency

G. E. Moore (1903) ‘The Refutation of Idealism’ Mind.
Gilbert Harman (1990) ‘The Intrinsic Quality of Experience’ Philosophical Perspectives.

Patrick Fraser (Moore)

Nancy Wu (Harman)
Mar. 21 Perception

Adam Pautz (2021) Introduction to Perception.
Adam Pautz (2017) ‘Experiences Are Representations’ in B. Nanay (ed.) Current Controversies in Philosophy of Perception.

Simon Dietz (Pautz Intro)

Cassandra Williams / Sanghun Han (Pautz Experiences)
Mar. 28 Colour

Paul Boghossian and David Velleman (1989) ‘Colour as a Secondary Quality’ Mind.
Brian Cutter (2022) ‘The Mind-Body Problem and the Color-Body Problem’ Philosophical Studies.

Simon Dietz and Zachary Tsang (Boghossian and Velleman)

Ariel Lafayette / Sanghun Han (Cutter)
Apr. 4 Presence

Mark Johnston (2007) ‘Objective Mind and the Objectivity of Our Minds’ Philosophy and Phenomenological Research.
William Seager (nd) ‘From Panpsychism to Neutral Monism, and Back Again(?)’


Ethan Xu (Johnston)

Nate Oppel (Seager)



Department of Philosophy, University of Toronto Scarborough, 1265 Military Trail, Toronto, Ontario, M1C1A4

Office: MW 374       Phone: 416-208-2976