EXCO 390 - ConsciousnessCo

2 credits
Right now, I’m seeing the color blue, feeling an itch on my leg, hearing the hum of conversations in a nearby room, and enjoying the taste of juice. According to many philosophers, one interesting feature these mental states share is that there’s something it’s like for me to have them. In other words, they’re phenomenally conscious. Although phenomenal consciousness is something with which we’re all intimately familiar, its nature continues to fascinate and perplex scholars studying the mind. This course is dedicated to the exploration of contemporary philosophical work about consciousness. It will be structured around a series of guiding theoretical questions. How ought we characterize consciousness and its features? What’s the relation between consciousness and the physical world? What sorts of mental states are conscious, and what are they like to have? What’s the best way to study the contents of consciousness in the face of considerable methodological challenges? What are some specific theories of consciousness proposed by philosophers, psychologists, and neuroscientists? What sorts of beings can have consciousness? Is consciousness restricted to waking humans and animals, or might entities like plants, artificial intelligences, and groups sometimes experience conscious states, too? How can we detect the presence of consciousness?

Sophie Nelson
snelson@oberlin.edu
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