Minds and Machines

Course Description:

This introductory level course is devoted to explicating and critically evaluating the thesis that the human mind, or at least its cognitive faculty, can be understood as a computing machine. Readings are primarily from contemporary authors, and include both scientists and philosophers.

Required Texts:

Minds, Brains and Science, Author: Searle, Publisher: Harvard U Press
Mind: An Introduction, Author: Searle, Publisher: Oxford U Press, Edition: MMIV
The Philosophy of Mind, Author: Smith, Publisher: Cambridge U Press
The Myth of Religious Neutrality, Author: Clouser, Publisher: U of Notre Dame

Course Description:

This introductory level course is devoted to explicating and critically evaluating the thesis that the human mind, or at least its cognitive faculty, can be understood as a computing machine. Readings are primarily from contemporary authors, and include both scientists and philosophers.

Required Texts:

Elbow Room: Varieties of Free Will Worth Wanting by Daniel C. Dennett
Strangers to Ourselves by Timothy Wilson