Undergraduate Course: Theories of Mind (Philosophy Hons) (PHIL10024)

Course Outline
School	School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences	College	College of Humanities and Social Science
Credit level (Normal year taken)	SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate)	Availability	Available to all students
SCQF Credits	20	ECTS Credits	10
Summary	This course examines selected conceptual and theoretical issues in the Philosophy of Mind, particularly with respect to computationalism and physicalism.
Course description	What is a mind, what are the essential characteristics distinguishing mental from non-mental systems? Two key features traditionally offered in response to this question are (1) representational content: mental states can be about external objects and states of affairs, they can represent and bear content or meaning; (2) conscious experience: only minds are consciously aware and have subjective, qualitative experiences, roughly, there is something it is like to be a mind. A central aim of the course will be to examine the extent to which these two features can be captured or explained by computational and/or physicalist methods, and to explore some of the conceptual issues basic to Cognitive Science and Artificial Intelligence as theoretical approaches to the mind.

Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites	It is RECOMMENDED that students have passed Knowledge and Reality (PHIL08017) AND Mind, Matter and Language (PHIL08014)	Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations		Other requirements	None
Additional Costs	None.

Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisites	Visiting students should have at least 3 Philosophy courses at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this). We will only consider University/College level courses.
High Demand Course?	Yes

Course Delivery Information

Academic year 2015/16, Available to all students (SV1)		Quota: 28
Course Start	Semester 1
Timetable	Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info)	Total Hours: 200 ( Seminar/Tutorial Hours 22, Summative Assessment Hours 2, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 172 )
Assessment (Further Info)	Written Exam 60 %, Coursework 40 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment)	Mid-term essay of 1,500 words (40%) End-of-semester exam (60%)
Feedback	Not entered
Exam Information
Exam Diet	Paper Name		Hours & Minutes
Main Exam Diet S1 (December)			2:00

Academic year 2015/16, Part-year visiting students only (VV1)		Quota: 5
Course Start	Semester 1
Timetable	Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info)	Total Hours: 200 ( Seminar/Tutorial Hours 22, Feedback/Feedforward Hours 7, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 167 )
Assessment (Further Info)	Written Exam 60 %, Coursework 40 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment)	Mid-term essay of 1,500 words (40%) End-of-semester exam (60%)
Feedback	Not entered
Exam Information
Exam Diet	Paper Name		Hours & Minutes
Main Exam Diet S1 (December)			2:00

Learning Outcomes
Students are asked to read, critically assess and discuss some of the most important texts in the philosophy of mind. Students will acquire the necessary conceptual resources to analyze and criticize different theoretical positions in this area. Students are encouraged to develop their critical and analytic skills in individual research.

Reading List
None

Additional Information
Course URL	http://www.philosophy.ed.ac.uk
Graduate Attributes and Skills	Not entered
Keywords	Not entered

Contacts
Course organiser	Dr Paul Schweizer Tel: (0131 6)50 2704 Email: paul@inf.ed.ac.uk	Course secretary	Miss Susan Richards Tel: (0131 6)51 3733 Email: sue.richards@ed.ac.uk