Advanced topics in the Philosophy of mind, such as an exploration of philosophical problems and theories of consciousness. Topics to be examined may include: the nature of consciousness and 'qualitative experience', the existence and nature of animal consciousness, the relation between consciousness and intentionality, as well as various philosophical theories of consciousness.

This year's course focuses on the problem of consciousness, reductionism and the place of consciousness in the natural world.

Instructor: William Seager.
Office: PO102:103.
E-mail: seager@utsc.utoronto.ca
Office Hrs: Fridays 3-4pm, or by appointment.

Consciousness: Confessions of a Romantic Reductionist     Christof Koch.
Mind and Cosmos    Thomas Nagel.

My goal is to get through all of the text books. That means devoting about five weeks per book or so, which should be easily doable.

The final grade will be based two term papers (worth 35% of the final grade each), a set of weekly exercises to be handed in each week at class (worth altogether 5% of the final grade), and one mid-term test (worth 25% of the final grade).

The Papers: these will be on topics to be provided on this web page. The paper should be no more than 2000 words long and no less than 1800 words long.
     Philosophy demands hard and careful thought, and such thought deserves clear and well organized writing for its expression. Some advice on writing philosophy papers will of course be provided in class. The author of our textbook also has some advice at the end of his book (see "Paper Writing Tips") and here are a couple of links: Peter Horban's Writing a Philosophy Paper; James Pryor's Guidelines on Writing a Philosophy Paper.
     Note also that late essays are not acceptable unless you have a valid reason for not being able to produce the essay in a timely fashion. I *may* accept late essays one week late with a one grade (10%) penalty. Please discuss any problems with me.

The Weekly Exercises: these will be sets of questions about the current readings. The questions will mostly be obvious and based entirely on the readings. Your answers will not be graded - you will receive credit for handing in your work ON TIME so long as a good faith effort has been made. Altogether, they are worth 5% of the final grade so you needn't feel devastated if you miss one. But it's an easy 5% and will help you keep up with the reading.

The Mid-Term Exam: this will be a two hour exam held in class. The exam format will be, first, a section of short answer questions similar to the questions on the weekly exercises and, second, an essay section (a selection of topics will be provided).

Friday, January 8, 2016: First meeting of PHLC95S, 1pm @ MW110.
Sunday, January 17, 2016: Last day to add classes.
Friday, February 12, 2016: Mid-Term Exam (held in class).
Friday, February 12, 2016: Last day to confirm intention to graduate.
February 15-20, 2016: Reading Week (no classes).
Friday, March 4, 2016 by 11:59pm: TERM PAPER I due. Topics here.
Sunday, March 20, 2016: Last day to drop S courses.
Friday, March 25, 2016: Good Friday; University closed.
Monday, April 4, 2016: Final Class.
Saturday, April 9, 2016 by 11:59pm: TERM PAPER II due. Topics here.
Thursday, April 7, 2016: Last day to drop UTSC S courses (with LWD on transcript).
April 8-22, 2016: Final Examination Period.

Jan. 8: Introductory Meeting - Class Overview.
Jan. 15: Reading Koch chs. 1 and 2.
Jan. 22: Reading Koch chs. 3 and 4.
Jan. 29: Reading Koch chs. 5 and 6.
Feb. 5: Reading Koch, chs. 6 and 7 (only one extra ch. this week; trying to catch up).
Feb. 12: Mid-Term Exam.
Feb. 19: Reading Week -- No Class.
Feb. 26: Reading Koch, chs. 8, 9 and 10 (finishing book).
Mar. 4: Reading Nagel, pp. 3-28 (up to end of §6 of ch. 2).
Mar. 11: Reading Nagel, pp. 28-53.
Mar. 18: Reading Nagel, pp. 54-74.
Mar. 25: Good Friday, no class.
Apr. 1: Reading Nagel, pp. 74-95.
Apr. 4: Reading Nagel, chs. 5-6.

Assignment 1, due Friday, January 15 (in class). (Get assignment 1.)
Assignment 2, due Friday, January 22 (in class). (Get assignment 2.)
Assignment 3, due Friday, January 29 (in class). (Get assignment 3.)
Assignment 4, due Friday, February 5 (in class). (Get assignment 4.)
Assignment 5, due Friday, February 26 (in class). (Get assignment 5.)
Assignment 6, due Friday, March 4 (in class). (Get assignment 6.)
Assignment 7, due Friday, March 11 (in class). (Get assignment 7.)
Assignment 8, due Friday, March 18 (in class). (Get assignment 8.)
Assignment 9, due Friday, April 1 (in class). (Get assignment 9.)
Assignment 10, due Friday, April 4 (in class). (Get assignment 10.)