B. Philosophy of Mind: Topics

In order to facilitate study, each Unit is divided into two parts, (a) and (b).

Unit 1

(a) philosophy and the soul

(b) sources of belief in the soul

Unit 2

(a) 'inside' and 'outside'

(b) the 'I' and the theatre of consciousness

Unit 3

(a) can mind and body be separated?

(b) bodies without minds, and minds without bodies

Unit 4

(a) Descartes' argument for mind-body dualism

(b) defending Descartes' argument

Unit 5

(a) dualism and the concept of identity

(b) self is not a substance or entity

Unit 6

(a) self as a collection of mental items

(b) duplicating the self: a thought experiment

Unit 7

(a) identity of the self over time

(b) is identity necessary?

Unit 8

(a) 'interactionism' versus 'epiphenomenalism'

(b) refutations of epiphenomenalism and interactionism

Unit 9

(a) self as source of the will

(b) impossibility of identifying acts of will

Unit 10

(a) an argument against freedom of the will

(b) dualist's attempt to escape the argument

Unit 11

(a) the notion of qualia

(b) qualia and the inverted spectrum hypothesis

Unit 12

(a) do qualia exist?

(b) impossibility of a private language

Unit 13

(a) the theory of solipsism

(b) the theory of idealism

Unit 14

(a) the meaning of 'I'

(b) dualism of subjective and objective worlds

Unit 15

(a) myself and others

(b) my fear of death