Monash University Handbook 2010 Undergraduate - Unit

Synopsis

This unit is concerned with some philosophical questions about the nature of consciousness, in particular with the question whether consciousness is irreducibly non-physical. We shall look at all of the major theories of the mind/body relationship, and we shall also examine the prospects for the creation of artificial intelligence and conscious computers. www.arts.monash.edu.au/phil/undergraduate/lateryear.html

Objectives

Upon successfully completing this unit, students will have a good understanding of the main competing solutions to the mind/body problem, i.e. to the problem of determining exactly how mind and body are related. Students will also have a good understanding of the ways in which solutions to the mind/body problem relate to other disputed questions in philosophy of mind, e.g. whether animals have thoughts, whether machines are capable of thought, whether the world can be exhaustively described in the language of physics, and so forth.

Assessment

Written work: 60% (2500 words)
Exam: 40%

Chief examiner(s)

Rosalyn Furney

Contact hours

2 hours (1 x 1 hour lecture and 1 x 1 hour tutorial) per week

This unit applies to the following area(s) of study

Philosophy

Prerequisites

Students with first-year level units to the value of 24 points in any faculty by permission.