PHI 480 Philosophy of Mind: Eastern and Western Perspectives

Offered at:
Binghamton University
Binghamton, NY
Spring 2001
Michael G. McKimmy, Ph.D., Instructor

Description:

This course will explore one of the most significant and enduring questions of philosophy  — the status of the mind. Is the mind more than the brain? Less than the self? Definitions and refutations of mind/self/consciousness are often determined by appeal to a cosmological or personal, inner experience. Some approaches see the mind as something to find, other theories see the mind as something created by an individual or a cultural context.

The first half of this course will survey a variety of historical and contemporary perspectives on this question. The Western philosophical positions such as Dualism, Behaviorism, Identity Theory, Eliminative Materialism, and Functionalism from the analytic tradition will be explored. The thought on self in several representatives of the phenomenological and Continental tradition will be discussed as well. 

The anti-substance schools of Madhyamika and Abhidarma Buddhism, as well as Advaita Vedanta, and the Nyaya dualist tradition in Indian philosophy present rich and promising perspectives. Also we will consider the concepts of mind/soul/face of Mesoamerican Mexico (Aztec) thought. Non-western theories will account for about half of the course’ survey of theory.

In the second half of the course some of the main issues of philosophy of mind will be examined. We will look at the ethical consequences of these different approaches:

• the question of free will,
• intentionality,
• the status of psychoanalysis,
• the question of survival of bodily death,
• as well as other issues determined by the class.

Format: Lecture and Discussion:

Three 3 to 5 page position papers on selected theories, one 3 to 5 page issue paper on selected topic, one 15 to 20 page research paper.

Contact me:
     by telephone: (607) 724-1422.
     by private e mail: Michael@michaelmckimmy.com
     by group discussion: www.michaelmckimmy.com
     for face to face: make an appointment after class, by phone or e mail