Spring 2008
PHL471: Philosophy of Mind
Campus Center 208, MWF 10:20 - 11:15 a.m.
Professor: Craig DeLancey
Office: Campus Center 217
Office Hours: WF 3:00 p.m. -- 4:00 p.m., and by appointment
Email: delancey@oswego.edu



Introduction

This class is a discussion of the key questions of the philosophy of mind. The Philosophy of Mind is a living and very active tradition, and we will engage with it as such in this class. This means you will in part be reading material very recently published, and struggling with questions that are only just being addressed -- or, at least, we will struggle with them in their most current form.

The class will have the following structure. First, we will review the major ontological positions in the ontology of mind. Then we will turn the bulk of our attention to four major themes: phenomenal experience ("consciousness"), representation, emotion, the self. These cannot be wholly separated but will be treated as mostly distinct topics.

If you have a disabling condition which may interfere with your ability to successfully complete this course, please contact the Disability Services Office.

Text

We will read a lot of material (the "4" in "471" means: I love to read). Many of the readings will be available online, through e-reserves or through JSTOR. There are two texts:
John Perry, Personal Identity.
Craig DeLancey, Passionate Engines.
I hope you will forgive me for teaching my own book. It has two advantages: first, it is the only book on what emotion tells us about the philosophy of mind; second, it provides you with an opportunity to engage in philosophy as a real endeavor by reading and responding to some contemporary theory.

Most of our readings, however, will be online. One huge advantage of doing the class this way is that we can change the class as we go. Since most of our readings are on line, we can drop some and add others without cost, and will surely do so as we discover what we find easy, what difficult, what interesting, and what uninteresting.


Assignments and exams

You will have three exams, periodic homeworks or quizes concerned with the readings, and a final term paper. The exams address the material we have studied. The homeworks and quizzes concern the readings. For each reading I will post reading questions to consider while you read. Something very like some of these posted questions will then appear as questions on the quizes. The final paper will be on a topic of your own interest. See my Philosophy Paper Format Notes for help on how such a paper is to be structured.

I regret that I will not accept papers or homeworks by email.


Grading

The raw grade will be determined in the following way:
Homeworks and quizes: 40%
Exams: 45% (15% each)
Final paper: 15%
See my grading policy for an explanation of how I turn the raw grade into a final grade.

If you miss an exam and have an excused absence for the day you miss the exam, you may make it up, by special appointment with me, when you are able to come back to class. It is your responsibility to arrange any make-up exams as soon as you know you are going to miss the exam. Otherwise you may lose the opportunity to take the test, since I cannot give make-up exams after the class has gone over the answers.

Here is how you secure an excused absence: Only prior notification with credibly documented or easily verifiable reasons (e.g., medical visits to Mary Walker, documented participation in official sporting events, etc.) will result in excused absences. You must notify in writing, call, or email me prior to your absence from class. You must notify the Philosophy Dept. secretary, Pat Meleski, before you are going to be absent, via email at meleski@oswego.edu, or by phone at x2249. However, you must make sure she knows your name, the number of the course, the date, and your easily verifiable reason, along with a request to forward the information to me. It is better to give your information to me, except when you are unable to communicate with my phone or email for some reason.

Please hold onto all of your assignments and exams. Sometime before the end of the semester I recommend that you ask me to review the grades that I have recorded to make sure that I have not made any mistakes.


College Policy on Intellectual Integrity

Intellectual integrity on the part of all students is basic to individual growth and development through college course work. When academic dishonesty occurs, the teaching/learning climate is seriously undermined and student growth and development are impeded. For these reasons, any form of intellectual dishonesty is a serious concern and is therefore prohibited.

The full intellectual integrity policy can be found at www.oswego.edu/administration/registrar/policy_text.html#cpii


Office Hours

In addition to the listed office hours, I encourage you to make appointments. I am available quite a bit. Please try to come to office hours with specific questions in mind. You can of course come with a general request for help, but it is always helpful if you spend a little time thinking about how I can best help you out.


Objectives

By the end of this class, you should know:

Schedule

I will frequently update an online schedule of readings and assignments. It is your responsibility to check the www pages for the class at least every other day! The main outline of the course will be: