Consciousness, Brain and Self
Spring 2015
Tzofit Ofengenden
Class Meetings: M,W,TH 12:00 - 12:50
Email:
Office Tel:781-736-2695
Office Hours: M, TH 1:00- 2:00 or with
Course Description
This course introduces major problems and key concepts at the intersection between philosophy and neuroscience. We will start by exploring the way philosophers and neuroscientists approach brain, mind, consciousness, embodiment, conceptions of self, and memory. Then we will discuss contemporary issues in neuroethics such as free will, responsibility and enhancement. We will tackle questions such as: what is the function of consciousness? How does the brain create awareness of one’s self? To what extent does the body effect the mind? How does memory work? How do we come to decisions, and are those decisions free? What does neuroscience tell us about free will? Should drugs be used to enhance memory, attention, and concentration? Finally, we will consider the opportunities and limitations of neuroscientific methods for philosophical inquiry, and discuss emerging and future directions in this area.
Course Materials:
All reading materials will be either posted on the course website, available online or through the library database.
Learning Objectives:
Upon completion of this course, students should be able to:
- Develop a critical understanding of the argument presented in the assigned readings and class discussion
- Equip students with a rudimentary understanding of neuroscience that is applicable to philosophical debates in the philosophy of mind.
- Critically reflect upon how neuroscience may affect philosophical and ethical issues pertaining to the relation between brain and the mind, consciousness, self, free will, and others.
Course Requirements
Reading:
You will read the material assigned for class prior to our meeting. We shall spend most of our class time going over the assigned readings in an effort to analyze them, and to delineate their core arguments. Therefore always bring the assigned readingwith you.
Attendance and Participation:
I place great stress on coming to class, having read the relevant material, responding to Latte web site and active participation, all of which will be noted. If anything prevents you from coming to class or doing the assignments, please see me.
Latte Assignments and Informational Postings
This course will have a Latte web site. An updated syllabus and reading materials will be posted there.
Response papers
You will be asked to send me responses to study questions for the reading assigned. Each response should be about a half to one page. Your responses will be due by midnight on Sundays.These assignments will not be gradedbut receive credit/no credit grade. Late response papers will not be accepted, though you can skip up to two without affecting your grade.
In your response
- summarize briefly in one paragraph one single argument or position from the reading; and
- raise an objection or interpretiveissue with respect to that argument or position
In-class Debate
There will be 5-8 class debates on philosophical issues we will discuss in class. I will provide the subject for the debatea few days ahead of class. This will enable you to prepare beforehand. On the day of the debate we will divide the class to groups of four or five (depending on the size of the class). Each group will be assigned with an argument to defend. After 15 minutes each group will present their position. Since the class will be divided randomly into "pro" and "con" teams, and you cannot know what position you will need to defend, it would be wise to prepare for both positions. After the first presentation the groups will have a few more minutes to reconsider their argument and prepare to reply to the arguments presented by the opposite side in order to defend their position.
Papers
I will assign three writing assignments over the course of the semester. You will write two short take home essays of 3-5 pages each and a term paper of 7-10 pages long. Paper topics will be distributed, though you are also free to develop your own (you will have to email a short paper proposal).
Topic Proposal for the term paper: The term paper is intended to provide students with the opportunity to develop their own thoughts in greater detail and may be an extension of one of their shorter writing assignments. Topics will bedistributed 3 weeks before the end of semester. You should meet with me to discuss your topic for the term paper before you get deeply into the writingno later than a week before the paper is due. Prepare a ½ - 1 page proposal. This proposal should state the subject of your paper (what debate or question will you be looking at), a rough version of your thesis (what position will you be arguing for), and a preliminary list of sources that you will be consulting.
All writing should be sent to my email address and you should expect a confirmation that I have received the paper. If you have not received such confirmation, contact me.
The first paper will be due on Thursday, February12th before the start of class.
The second paper will be due on Thursday, March 19th before the start of the class.
The term paper will be due on Monday, April 27th before the start of the class.
Grading:
Class participationbased on reading, debates, and response papers: 30%
First Paper 20%
Second Paper 20%
Term Paper 30%
Disabilities:
Please see me at the beginning of the course if you have any disabilities, which would require special academic consideration.
Academic Integrity
You are accepted to be familiar with, and to follow, the University’s policies on academic integrity. Please consult Brandeis University Rights and Responsibilities for all policies and procedures. All policies related to academic integrity apply to in-class and take home projects, assignments, exams, and quizzes. Students may only collaborate on assignments with permission from the instructor. Allegations of alleged academic dishonesty will be forward to the Director of Academic Integrity. Sanctions for Academic dishonesty can include failing grades and/or suspension from the university.
Schedule of Topics and Readings:
The following course schedule is tentative and subject to change. Such changes, if any, will be announced in class and on the course website.
Week 1
Understanding the problem of consciousness
1/12 Introduction
1/14 Thomas Nagel, 1974, “What is it like to be a Bat?”The Philosophical Review, 83: 435- 450.
1/16 David Chalmers,1995, “Facing Up to the Problem of Consciousness,”Journal of Consciousness Studies, 3-27.
Week 2
1/19 Martin Luther King – No Class
1/21 Continuing with David Chalmers,“Facing Up to the Problem of Consciousness.
How the brain gives rise to consciousness
1/22 Ned Block, 2009, Comparing Theories of Consciousness, in Michael Gazzaniga (ed.) The Cognitive NeuroscienceIV, MIT Press, 1111-1122.
Week 3
1/ 26 Baars, B. J., 2002,“The Conscious Access Hypothesis: Origins and Recent Evidence,”Trends in Cognitive Sciences(6): 1, 47–52
1/28 Rees, G., Krieman, G. and Koch, C., 2002, “Neural Correlates of Consciousness in humans,” Nature, Reviews Neuroscience, 3, 261–70.
1/29 Andreas K. Engel and Wolf Singer, 2001, Temporal Binding and the Neural Correlates of Sensory Awareness, Trend in Cognitive Sciences Vol.5 No.1, 16-25.
Michael N. Shadlen and J. Anthony Movshon, 1999,“Synchrony Unbound: Review A Critical Evaluation of the Temporal Binding Hypothesis,”Neuron, Vol. 24, 67–77.
Week 4
2/2 AlvaNoeand Evan Thompson, 2004, “Are There Neural Correlates of Consciousness?”Journal of Consciousness Studies, 11, 1; 3-28.
2/4 Michael Gazzaniga, 2008,The Left Hemisphere Does Not Miss the Right Hemisphere, inLaureys, StevenTononi, Giulio (Eds.)Neurology of Consciousness: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuropathology, 261 – 270.
2/5 Daniel Dennett, 2001, “Are we explaining consciousness yet?” Cognition 79, 221-237.
Week 5
Situated Cognition
2/9, Philip Robbins and Murat Aydede, 2012, A Short Primar On Situated Cognition, in P. Robbins and. M. Aydede (Eds.) Cambridge Handbook of Situated Cognition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 3-11.
2/11Gallagher, 2012, Philosophical Antecedents of Situated Cognition, in P. Robbins and. M. Aydede (Eds.) Cambridge Handbook of Situated Cognition, Cambridge: Cambridge University.
NOTE: First paper is due on Thursday, February 12th at the start of class.
The embodied Mind
2/12 Shaun Gallagher, 2005, How the Body Shapes the Mind. Oxford University Press, Chapter 2&3.
WINTER BREAK (FEBRUARY 16-20)
Week 6
2/23 Jesse Prinz, “Is Consciousness Embodied?” in P. Robbins and. M. Aydede (Eds.) Cambridge Handbook of Situated Cognition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 419-436.
The extended mind
2/25 Clark A., and Chalmers, D., 1998,“The Extended Mind,”Analysis, 58, 10-23.
Thompson, E. and Verela, F., 2001, “Radical Embodiment: Neural Dynamics and Consciousness,”Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 5: 418-425.
2/26
Self and Self-Knowledge
U. Neisser,1988, “Five Kinds of Self-Knowledge,”Philosophical Psychology 1: 35-59,
Week 7
3/2 D. Dennett, 1991, Consciousness Explained, Boston: Little, Brown and Co, Chapter 13.
3/4 T. Bayne, 2004, “Self-Consciousness and the Unity of Consciousness,”The Monist 87: 219-236.
3/5 David Rosenthal, 2005,“Unity of Consciousness and the Self,” inConsciousness and Mind,Oxford: Clarendon Press, 339-363.
Week 8
3/9, 3/11 Joseph LeDoux, 2003,Synaptic Self: How Our Brains Become Who We Are, Chapter 2. 13-32.
3/12 Peter. Mandik, 2013, “The Neurophilosophy of Subjectivity,” in John Bickle (ed.), Oxford Handbook of Philosophy and Neuroscience, New York: Oxford University Press, 601-618.
Week 9
Memory
Note: second paper is due on Thursday, March 19th at the start of the class.
3/16 Tulving, Endel, 2002,“Episodic Memory: From Mind to Brain,”Annual review of psychology, 53, 1–25.
3/18, 3/19 Dudai, Yadin, “The Neurobiology of Consolidations, Or, How stable is the Engram?” Ann. Rev. Psychol., 55, (2004): 51-86
Week 10
3/23 Schacter L. Daniel, Addis R. Donna, 2007, “The Cognitive Neuroscience of Constructive Memory: Remembering the Past and Imagining the Future,” Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B; 362: 773–786
3/25, Conway A., Martin, 2005, “Memory and the Self,” Journal of Memory and Language, 53 (4): 594–628.
3/26 Scott D Slotnick and Daniel L. Schacter, The Cognitive Neuroscience of Memory and Consciousness, in the Cambridge Handbook of Consciousness, 809-831.
Ethical Issues in Neuroscience
Week 11
Ethics of Neuroscience and Neuroscience of Ethics
3/30, 4/1 Niel Levy, 2007,Neuroethics: Challenges for the 21st Century,Cambridge University Press, Chapters 1&9.
4/2 Martha J. Farah, 2005, “Neuroethics: the practical and the philosophical,” Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 9(1):34–40.
PASSOVER AND SPRING RECESS (April 3-10)
Week 12
Free Will
4/13 Libet, B, 2002,“Do We Have Free Will?” in The Oxford Handbook of Free Will, 551-564.
Roskies, A., 2006, “Neuroscientific Challanges to Free Will and Responsibiliy,” Trends in
Cognitive Sciences, 10(9), 419–423.
4/15 Wegner, D. M., 2003,:The Mind’s Best trick: How We Experience Conscious Will,” Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 7(2), 65-69.
Bargh, J. A., & Chartrand, T. L., 1999,“The Unbearable Automaticity of Being,” AmericanPsychologist, 54(7), 462-479.
4/16 Churchland, P., 2006, “ The Big Questions: Do We Have Free Will?”New Scientist, 42 45.
Kaposy, 2009, “Will Neuroscientific Discoveries About Free Will andSelfhood Change Our Ethical Practices?” Neuroethics, 51-59.
Week 13
Ethical issues related to neurocognitive Enhancement
4/20 Thomas Metzinger,2009, What is a Good State Of Consciousness, in The Ego Tunnel, Chapter 9.
4/22 M. Gazzaniga, 2005, The Ethical Brain. Chicago, Ch 5, 37-49.
4/23 Farah MJ, Illes J, Cook-Deegan R, et al., 2004, “Neurocognitive Enhancement: What Can We Do And What Should We Do?”Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 5:421-425.
Week 14
4/27 A. Buchanan, 2009, “Moral Status and Human Enhancement,” Phil. Pub Af, 37(4):346-381.
Term paper is dueon Monday, April, the 27th before the start of the class.