Module description
The module will allow students to explore fundamental questions about the mind such as:
- What distinguishes mental from physical phenomena?
- Do experiences combine?
- What is the Unity of Consciousness?
- Is there a Self? If so, what is it?
Assessment details
Summative assessment: 1 x 2-hour exam (100%)
Formative assessment: 1 x 2,000-word essay
Educational aims & objectives
The Philosophy of Mind module aims to give students the intellectual equipment to investigate for themselves the issues mentioned in the module description above on the basis of careful reading and critical reflection upon the key writings in the area.
Learning outcomes
By the end of the module, the students will be able to demonstrate intellectual, transferable and practicable skills appropriate to a Level 5 module and in particular will have:
- developed a capacity for philosophical argument about the mind and mental phenomena
- acquired a knowledge of some of the key philosophical writings about the nature of mind
- understood the nature of some of the central problems in the philosophy of mind
- encountered and evaluated a number of attempts to solve the philosophical problems under discussion
- acquired an understanding of how problems in philosophy of mind relate to broader philosophical debates in areas of logic, metaphysics, epistemology and ethics
- acquired an ability to relate the questions discussed to the work of philosophers studied in other modules
been encouraged to read with great care and reflected upon some difficult texts as well as introductory and secondary material.
Teaching pattern
One one-hour weekly lecture and one one-hour weekly seminar over ten weeks.
Suggested reading list
Brentano, F. 1874/1995. Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint. London: Routledge. Book II.
Chadha, M. Selfless Minds. Oxford 2022. Chapter 2.
Chalmers, D. 2016. The Combination Problem for Panpsychism. In: Bruntrup, G. Jaskolla, L. Panpsychism: Contemporary Perspectives. Oxford.
Crane, T. 2001. Elements of Mind. Oxford. (Introductory)
Dainton, B. 2014. Self: What Am I? Penguin. (Introductory)
James, W. 1890. The Principles of Psychology. Boston. Vol. I, chapt. 6.