Instructor: Jason Winning | Lecture place/time: Barrows 50, Tu Th 3:30–5:00 pm |
Email: jason.winning@gmail.com | Office hours place/time: Moses 244, Tu 12–1:00 pm & Th 11:30–12:30 pm |
Discussion sections: | (There are none.) |
The goal of this course is to teach students how to read and understand complex philosophical texts, how to articulate that understanding in writing, and how to analyze and critically assess philosophical arguments. Students will be expected to devote significant time and effort to writing. The topic we will focus on will be mind and cognition. This course satisfies the second half of the Reading and Composition requirement.
There are no required books for this course. All readings will be made available electronically on bCourses.
Lectures and Discussion: I lecture with slides. The slides will be used to focus discussion and organize complex material; they are not a substitute for the readings. Students are expected to take careful notes and will be held responsible for the material discussed in class not found on the slides or in the readings.
Reading Assignments: Students are required to read each selection prior to class. You should take notes while reading, keeping track of questions or issues that arise. You should bring both the reading and the notes/questions to class.
Outlines of Readings: On days when a writing assignment is not stated in the schedule (the orange writing below), an outline of the reading assignment for that day will be due. For the reading assigned for that day, write an outline that is at least 3 levels deep. Each item in the outline should be a complete sentence, and should be no longer than 1 medium-length sentence. The outline should be at least 200 words. Bring a print-out of the outline to class. You may not copy sentences or phrases (5 or more words, not counting ‘the’, ‘a’, etc.) verbatim from the reading; the outline must be written in your own words.
All draft and paper assignments (but neither outlines of readings nor in-class assignments) must be turned in electronically to bCourses.
Attendance: Attendance and coming to class on time are mandatory. All students may have up to 3 absences for any reason; after that, there will be no excused absences (therefore, you should only save the 3 excused absences for emergencies). Each unexcused absence (i.e., the 4th, 5th, and so on) will result in the final course grade being reduced by 5 percent. Coming to class after attendance has been taken will be considered an absence. This is due to the workshop nature of the class: much of the learning happens by way of interaction with other students during class. If you feel there is a good chance you will be absent more than 3 times, you are strongly recommended to take the class during a future semester instead. Outlines of readings must be turned in at the beginning of class, and in-class writing assignments must be completed during class. These cannot be turned in late under any circumstances. Students who fail to turn in the in-class writing assignment on a given day (if there is one) with their name on it will also be considered absent for that day.
Lateness: Draft assignments and the two papers will be considered late if they are turned in after they are due. Draft assignments are due at the start of class. A late draft or paper assignment will immediately result in a reduction of 1 full letter grade. For each additional 24 hours it is late, the grade will be reduced by 1/3 of a letter grade (B reduced to B-, C+ reduced to C, etc.). In fairness to students who make sacrifices to ensure that their work is turned in on time, no exceptions can be made to this policy unless you discuss it with me well in advance of the due date.
Academic Integrity: All suspicions of academic misconduct will be reported to the Center for Student Conduct according to university policy. Academic misconduct is not just blatant cheating (e.g., copying off another student during an exam), but includes copying other students’ essays; copying or using old essays; forgetting to cite material you took from an outside resource; turning in work completed in total or in part by another. This is an incomplete list; if you have questions concerning academic misconduct it is your responsibility to ask me for advice.
Tues., Jan. 21: | Introduction |
Thurs., Jan. 23: | Cornman, Lehrer, & Pappas pp. 139–148 |
Tues., Jan. 28: | Cornman, Lehrer, & Pappas pp. 149–161 |
Thurs., Jan. 30: | Cornman, Lehrer, & Pappas pp. 163–181 |
Tues., Feb. 4: | Smart, “Sensations and Brain Processes” |
Thurs., Feb. 6: | Fodor, “The Mind-Body Problem”, pp. 114–118 |
Tues., Feb. 11: | Fodor, “The Mind-Body Problem”, pp. 118–123 |
Thurs., Feb. 13: | Searle, “Minds, Brains, and Programs”, pp. 417–419 |
Tues., Feb. 18: | Draft of Intro due; Searle, “Minds, Brains, and Programs”, pp. 419–424 |
Thurs., Feb. 20: | Dennett, “The Milk of Human Intentionality” commentary on Searle |
Tues., Feb. 25: | Draft of Outline of First Paper due; Dennett cont’d |
Thurs., Feb. 27: | In-class drafting activity |
Tues., Mar. 3: | Draft of First Paper (at least 4 pages) due; In-class drafting activity |
Thurs., Mar. 5: | In-class drafting activity |
Tues., Mar. 10: | In-class peer review activity |
Thurs., Mar. 12: | In-class peer review activity |
First paper due on Friday, Mar. 20 at 5:00 pm | |
Tues., Mar. 17: | Gibbs (2005) Embodiment and Cognitive Science introductory chapter |
Thurs., Mar. 19: | Clark & Chalmers (1998) “The Extended Mind” |
Tues., Mar. 31: | Dretske (1986) “Minds, Machines, and Meaning” |
Thurs., Apr. 2: | Vernon (2014) Artificial Cognitive Systems excerpt |
Tues., Apr. 7: | Adams & Garrison (2013) “The Mark of the Cognitive” |
Recommended, NOT required: Elpidorou (2014) and Adams & Garrison reply | |
Thurs., Apr. 9: | Carruthers (2004) “On Being Simple Minded” |
Tues., Apr. 14: | Huebner (2011) “Minimal Minds” |
Thurs., Apr. 16: | Draft of Intro due; Calvo Garzón (2007) “The Quest for Cognition in Plant Neurobiology” |
Adams (2018) “Cognition Wars” | |
Tues., Apr. 21: | Draft of Outline of Second Paper due; Segundo-Ortina & Calvo response to Adams |
Thurs., Apr. 23: | Draft of Second Paper (at least 2 pages) due; Fulda (2017) “Natural Agency: The Case of Bacterial Cognition” |
Tues., Apr. 28: | In-class drafting activity |
Thurs., Apr. 30: | Draft of Second Paper (at least 5 pages) due; In-class peer review activity |
Second paper due on Monday, May 11 at noon (12:00 pm) | |