Minds and Machines

Catalog description

Class Hours: 3 Lab/Discussion: 0 Credits: 3 Prerequisite: none Corequisite: none Restriction: none Description: Introduces central issues in philosophy of mind, with a special emphasis on mental representation, consciousness, and the computational theory of mind. Explores historical and contemporary approaches to questions such as: Is the mind an immaterial thing? Is the mind identical with the brain? Or is the mind a kind of computer, related to the brain in the way a computer program is related to hardware? Is it possible for machines to really think and feel? What is consciousness and can it be explained scientifically?