Topics and Reading Week by Week

The Reader: Mind & Cognition, 2nd Edition, Edited By William G. Lycan, Oxford, 1999, Blackwell. Please note: The 1st edition has a significantly different selection of papers and so is not a good substitute. The numbers in brackets below refer to the section in the reader which contains the piece. Some use is made of the Part I Reader.

1. CONSCIOUSNESS 1
Frank Jackson: 'Epiphenomenal Qualia' (18)

2. Consciousness 2
Consciousness Continued; Introduction To The Course; Overview.
Reprise Of Frank Jackson's Article, Above; Thomas Nagel 'What Is It Like To Be A Bat?' from the Part I Reader - Introduction To Philosophy, Ed. White; David Armstrong, 'The Central State Theory', from the Part I Reader Introduction To Philosophy, Ed. White..

3. Consciousness 3
U.T. Place: 'Is Consciousness A Brain Process?' (1)

4. Consciousness 4
Lycan's Introduction to Part VI
David Lewis: 'What Experience Teaches' (19)

5. Functionalism 1
Lycan's Introduction to Part I.

6. Functionalism 2
Jerry A. Fodor: 'The Appeal to Tacit Knowledge in Psychological explanation' (Excerpt) (4)

7. Functionalism 3
William G. Lycan: 'The Continuity of Levels in Nature' (4)

8. Instrumentalism 1
Lycan's Introduction to Part II.

9. Instrumentalism 2
D.C. Dennett: 'True Believers: The Intentionalist Strategy And How It Works.' (5)

10. Language 1
John Searle: Can Computers Think? (The Part I Reader - Introduction To Philosophy, Ed. White, pp 197-203)

11. Language 2
Jerry A. Fodor: 'A Theory of Content' (10)

12. Langauge 3
Paul M. Churchland & Patricia Smith Churchland: 'Stalking The Wild Epistemic Engine'. (9)

13. The 'Language Of Thought' Hypothesis
J.A. Fodor: 'Why There Still Has To Be A Language Of Thought' (8)

14. Intentionality 1
Lycan's Introduction to Part IV.

15. Intentionality 2
Jerry. A. Fodor: 'A Theory of Content' (10)

16. Connectionism 1
Lycan's Introduction to Part III.
A first go at Patricia Smith Churchland and Terence Sejnowski: 'Neural Representation and Neural Computation' (7)

17. Connectionism 2
Patricia Smith Churchland and Terence Sejnowski: 'Neural Representation and Neural Computation' (7)

18. Eliminativism
Lycan's Introduction to Part III
Paul Churchland: 'Eliminative Materialism and the Propositional Attitudes' (6)

19. The status of Folk Psychology 1
Lycan's introduction to Part V
First go at Stephen Stich:'Autonomous Psychology and the belief-desire thesis'(11)

20. The status of Folk Psychology 2
Stephen Stich:'Autonomous Psychology and the belief-desire thesis' (11)

Updated 24:03:03