units

ATS3881

Faculty of Arts

12 April 2013 24 May 2013

Undergraduate - Unit

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6 points, SCA Band 1, 0.125 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered, or view unit timetables.

LevelUndergraduate
FacultyFaculty of Arts
Organisational UnitPhilosophy
OfferedClayton First semester 2013 (Off-campus)
Caulfield Second semester 2013 (Day)
Clayton Second semester 2013 (Day)
Clayton Second semester 2013 (Off-campus)
Clayton Summer semester A 2013 (Off-campus)
Coordinator(s)Dr Josh May

Notes

Previously coded PHL3650

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

Outcomes

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)

Dr Josh May

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.

Prohibitions

ATS2840