Philosophy & History of MindBrain Science

Philosophy & History of MindBrain Science (2019)

Graduate course in English
(Curso de Pós-Graduação em inglês - disponibiliza-se tradução para o português de boa parte do material)

Osvaldo Pessoa Jr. - Dept. of Philosophy, FFLCH, University of São Paulo 
opessoa@usp.br  –  2nd semester, 2019
Wednesdays 2:00-6:00 PM, room 10

The next large-scale revolution in science might take place within what is sometimes called “MindBrain science”, encompassing approaches from neuroscience, cognitive science, and philosophy of mind. What is the nature of consciousness and how does it arise in the brain? Are the immediate brain correlates of consciousness located somewhere in the cortex or in subcortical regions, or does consciousness emerge globally? What clues are given by altered states of consciousness? The course will start with an introduction to the philosophy of mind, emphasizing thought-experiments and definitions, from a materialist perspective. Twentieth-century neuroscience will be explored historically, and contemporary views from neuroscientists and neurophilosophers will be studied. 

 

Information:
Initial plan and Bibliography     
Class schedule (1st version)
Review questions (assignment due Nov. 27)
 

Class notes (in English):

Ch. I: Functionalism x psychosubstantialism  
Ch. II: Materialism x spiritualism   
Ch. III: Qualitative sensations   
Ch. IV: Mind-body identity thesis  

Notas de aula (em Português):

Cap. I: Funcionalismo vs. psicossubstancialismo 
Cap. II: Materialismo vs. espiritualismo  
Cap. III: Sensações qualitativas  
Cap. IV: Tese da identidade mente-corpo   
 

Tópicos e Leituras:

.                                                                                                                   

Giorgio De Chirico, "As vexações do pensador" (1937)

Giorgio De Chirico, "The vexations of the thinker" (1937)

 

Class 1   Aug. 14   Introduction. Can machines have consciousness? Functionalism. Adrian: homogeneity thesis. Optional readings:
Paper by Turing (1950): in English and Portuguese 
Replacement of neurons by chips (Searle, 1992): in English and Portuguese.
Video: columban debate (Skinner & Epstein x Köhler): part 1 and part 2

Class 2   Aug. 28   Materialism x spiritualism. Parallelism & supervenience. Psychophysical parallelism. Reading: Sperry (1952, p. 291-96).
Optional reading: Adrian (1966), Fechner (1860)

Class 3   Sep. 11  Doctrine of primary properties. Qualia and inverted spectra. Penfield: centrencephalic hypothesis.
Reading: Penfield (1975) - In Portuguese.
Optional reading: Sherrington (1947)
Vídeos: Penfield e Torrada queimada.

Class 4   Sep. 18  The explanatory gap. Qualia and Mary's room thought experiment. Du Bois-Reymond's unsolvable problems.
Reading: De Bois-Reymond (1872). Optional readings:
Jackson on Mary's room (1982) in English, and reply to critics (1986): in English and Portuguese.

Class 5   Sep. 25  Mind-brain identity theory. Köhler's psychophysical isomorphism. Optional readings: Place (1956) in English and Portuguese
Unpublished piece by Place (1970). Also Feigl (1963)

Class 6   Oct. 2  Rise and fall of research on the reticular formation. Optional readings: Marshall & Magoun's 1998 history: Ch-10 and Ch-12. Panpsychism and panprotopsychism: intro by Skrbina (2009).

Class 7  Oct. 16  Split-brain experiments: Sperry (1977) (pp. 101-18). Intentionality (class by Sergio Farias): optional reading, Brentano (1874), English and Portuguese, and Ruth Millikan (2000)'s naturalization of intentionality. 

Class 8  Oct. 30  Reduction x emergence: read Sperry (1977), pp. 119-22. Optional readings: other paper by Sperry-1980. (in Portuguese:  Sperry-1980-port), Kim-Emergence (2006); van Gulick's (2001) classification. 

Class 9  Nov. 13  Libet (1978): antedating, and Pat Churchland's (1981) unjustified complaint. Optional: neuroscience of time perception (2005)

Class 10  Nov. 27 Freedom of will. Experiment by Libet (1999), and implications for epiphenomenalism: Wegner (2003).

Class 11  Dec 04  Neuroscience of consciousness: excerpt from Pat Churchland's Brain-Wise (pp. 134-56), and Crick & Koch (1990).

Class 12  Tuesday, Dec 10: Neural correlates of consciousness (Koch, Tononi et al., 2016

 

Dumpster:

Ignore, for now, the following material

Leitura optativa: Bonjour & Baker, p. 199-205.
Leitura para duas aulas: Chalmers,  versão em inglês
Leitura paralela 2: Descartes Paixões da alma 
Texto auxiliar: "Descartes and the pineal gland", de G.-J. Lokhorst.    
 Dennett  (qualia)
e sobre o quarto de Mary:  Jackson (1986). 

Leituras para aula: Leibniz-Relogio-Monad 
Leitura paralela: Locke (versão em inglês). 
                        
(1) Encéfalo triuno de McLean, segundo Sagan.
(2) Localização das memórias: Sacks: "Reminiscência".
      Texto de Penfield, e vídeos: Penfield e Torrada queimada.
(3) Lateralização cortical: texto de Jill Bolte Taylor (caps. 2-5) e vídeo Jill Bolte Taylor.
(4) Vídeo: 7 minutos com as gêmeas craniópagas Tatiana & Krista.

 

Last update: December 3, 2019