Date |
Topic & reading |
| Thursday, 9/21 |
Criticisms of functionalism.
Block, "Troubles with functionalism", especially sec. 1.2
Jackson, "What Mary didn't know"
|
| Tuesday, 9/26 |
Criticisms of functionalism, cont. Summing up of discussion of mind/body problem.
|
| Thursday, 9/28 |
Introduction to the problem of personal identity. The psychological theory of personal identity.
Locke, "Of identity and diversity." |
| Tuesday, October 3 |
The psychological theory of personal identity, cont.
Hume, "Of personal identity."
|
| Thursday, October 5 |
The psychological theory of personal identity, cont.
Reid, Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man (excerpt)
First papers due in class today. Details here.
|
| Tuesday, October 10 |
The psychological theory of personal identity, cont.
Williams, "The self and the future" |
| Thursday, October 12 |
The psychological theory of personal identity, cont.
Nagel, "Brain bisection and the unity of consciousness" |
| October 17 & 19 |
FALL BREAK |
| Tuesday, October 24 |
The psychological theory of personal identity, cont.
Parfit, "What we believe ourselves to be" (excerpt)
Parfit, "How we are not what we believe" (excerpt) |
| Thursday, October 26 |
The psychological theory of personal identity, cont.
Parfit, "Why our identity is not what matters" (excerpt)
Parfit, "Liberation from the self"
Parfit, "Divided minds and the nature of persons" (optional) |
| Tuesday, October 31 |
The dualist theory of personal identity.
Swinburne, "Personal identity: the dualist theory" |
| Thursday, November 2 |
The dualist theory of personal identity, continued.
(No further reading) |
| Tuesday, November 7 |
Anti-dualism without the psychological theory
van Inwagen, "Dualism and personal identity" |
| Thursday, November 9 |
Anti-dualism without the psychological theory, pt. 2
Olson, "The biological approach" |
| Tuesday, November 14 |
Materialism and the possibility of life after death.
Hick, "The recreation of the psycho-physical person"
Baker, "Material persons and the doctrine of the resurrection" |
| Thursday, November 16 |
Materialism and the possibility of life after death, cont.
van Inwagen, "I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come" |
| Tuesday, November 21 |
Arguments for life after death
Plato, Phaedo (excerpt)
Moody, Life After Life (excerpt)
Lester, "Critical research on near death experiences"
Beloff, "Is there anything beyond death?"
Second papers due in class today. Details here. |
| Thursday, November 23 |
THANKSGIVING |
| Tuesday, November 28 |
Arguments against life after death.
Hume, "Of the immortality of the soul" |
| Thursday, November 30 |
Is life after death desirable?
Williams, "The Makropoulos case: reflections on the tedium of immortality" |
| Tuesday, December 5 |
Last class day; review & discussion of connections between mind-body problem, personal identity, and life after death. |
| Thursday, December 14 |
Scheduled final exam. Third papers due; details to come. |
|
11/21: Late papers must be emailed to me, rather than placed in my box or outside my office, during break. After break, we'll continue our discussion of the arguments in favor of life after death with Plato's Phaedo.
10/16: The week after break, we'll be discussing Parfit's defense of the psychological view, along with his view that personal identity is of less importance than we usually give it. There are four Parfit readings, all of which are selections from longer works. There is an optional fifth reading which sums up part of his view. The week after our discussion of Parfit, we'll turn to dualist theories of personal identity.
10/4: Reminder: first papers are due on Thursday, and there is a late penalty of 3 points per day. For Thursday's class, you should read the Reid excerpt, and, if you have time, begin to look at Williams, "The self and the future."
9/19: The first papers are due on October 5. Details are available here.
9/19: For next Thursday, you should read section 1.2 of Block's "Troubles with functionalism" and Jackson, "What Mary didn't know." If you have not done so, you should also read sections I and III of Lewis, "Psychophysical and theoretical identifications."
9/8: Class on September 14 will be cancelled so that you can attend Notre Dame's Forum on the Global Health Crisis.
9/7: Tentative due date for the first paper is October 5. Details to come.
9/7: Today we will be discussing Smart's defense of the identity theory. For next Tuesday, you should review the Smart and read Putnam's "The nature of mental states."
8/30: For Thursday, read the selection from Ryle's The Concept of Mind. We will begin discussing that after we finish our discussion of the pairing problem for dualism.
8/24: The link to the readings for the course is now working. If it is not working for you, please email me. If you are new to the class, you needed to be added to the list of students with permission to access the documents; you should send me an email with your netID.
8/24: For Tuesday, read the rest of the Descartes. You should also read the paper by Kim. |