science of the mind
Write an essay of between 1,300 and 1,500 words on ONE of the following questions.

: The purpose of your essay is to:

1) Report on the research you have done

2) If appropriate, raise alternative points of view and considerations ignored or neglected by your sources

3) Articulate and defend your personal perspectives on these issues

The central skills you will be developing in this assignment are:

Critical Thinking and Analytical Reasoning
The Ability to Articulate and Defend Your Perspective In Writing.
You are welcome to come and see me during office hours to discuss your choice of sources and/or show me plans and drafts of your essay. You can come as many times as you like.

Essay Guidelines: Please read carefully!

Your essay must contain several references to and quotations from AT LEAST TWO relevant academic sources (books and /or peer-reviewed journal articles only please , no newspapers or websites please). These must be referenced properly, according to APA guidelines.
These sources should be taken from those that I posted for you on mycourses.
Essays that contain less than two references/quotations to the above-mentioned academic sources will get a C or less.
Essays should contain references to class discussions, in-class role plays etc.
Please upload your assignment on mycourses. I will not accept any assignments that are sent to me by email.
Any late assignments will be graded and capped at a C.
Students who fail the assignment or get a D will be allowed to redo the assignment, but it will be capped at a C.
Choose ONE of the following options:

1) “[So] we cannot know what it is like to be a bat even if we believe that there is something it is like”. Blackmore, p. 24

.Do you agree that we can’t ever really know what it is like to be a bat? Give reasons for your answer.
In what way does the question “What is it like to be a bat?” highlight the central issues and debates relating to the term ‘consciousness’?
2) Qualia do not appear to have physical properties that can be measured, and it is therefore difficult to prove whether they exist or not.

Define qualia, and give an example of a quale that is especially meaningful to you.
In your opinion, are qualia something separate from the brain? Does a quale contain information above and beyond the neural information it depends on? Discuss with reference to the thought-experiment of Mary the colour-scientist.
3) .” Daniel Dennett is the Devil. . . . There is no internal witness, no central recognizer of meaning, and no self other than an abstract ‘Center of Narrative Gravity’which is itself nothing but a convenient fiction. . . .For Dennett, it is not a case of the Emperor having no clothes. It is rather that the clothes have no Emperor.” (Voorhees, 2000, pp. 55-56).

Summarise Dennett’s theory that consciousness is like a magic trick in your own words.
Voorhees is exasperated by Dennett’s theory. To what extent do you share his dismay? Give reasons for your answer. NB If you choose to answer this question, this additional source will come in handy:
http://web.cs.swarthmore.edu/~meeden/cogs1/s07/DanielDennett.pdf (Links to an external site.)
4) According to Antonio Damasio, the split that Cartesian dualism perceives between the mind and the brain has had at least 2 major negative effects on the worlds of science and medicine.

Summarise these 2 negative effects and explain to what extent you agree with Damasio that their effect has in fact been negative.
What theory of the mind-body relationship does Damasio propose instead of Cartesian dualism, and to what extent do you find it attractive and plausible? Please refer to the sad stories of Phineas Gage and Elliot in your answer.
5) If every neuron in your brain is replaced by an artificial one – all changed from flesh to silicon before you die … will you still be alive after your death? If not, why not? Will you even notice a difference in your consciousness? If so, why? NB Please refer to qualia and the thought experiment of the Philosopher’s Zombie in your answer.

science of the mind
Write an essay of between 1,300 and 1,500 words on ONE of the following questions.

: The purpose of your essay is to:

1) Report on the research you have done

2) If appropriate, raise alternative points of view and considerations ignored or neglected by your sources

3) Articulate and defend your personal perspectives on these issues

The central skills you will be developing in this assignment are:

Critical Thinking and Analytical Reasoning
The Ability to Articulate and Defend Your Perspective In Writing.
You are welcome to come and see me during office hours to discuss your choice of sources and/or show me plans and drafts of your essay. You can come as many times as you like.

Essay Guidelines: Please read carefully!

Your essay must contain several references to and quotations from AT LEAST TWO relevant academic sources (books and /or peer-reviewed journal articles only please , no newspapers or websites please). These must be referenced properly, according to APA guidelines.
These sources should be taken from those that I posted for you on mycourses.
Essays that contain less than two references/quotations to the above-mentioned academic sources will get a C or less.
Essays should contain references to class discussions, in-class role plays etc.
Please upload your assignment on mycourses. I will not accept any assignments that are sent to me by email.
Any late assignments will be graded and capped at a C.
Students who fail the assignment or get a D will be allowed to redo the assignment, but it will be capped at a C.
Choose ONE of the following options:

1) “[So] we cannot know what it is like to be a bat even if we believe that there is something it is like”. Blackmore, p. 24

.Do you agree that we can’t ever really know what it is like to be a bat? Give reasons for your answer.
In what way does the question “What is it like to be a bat?” highlight the central issues and debates relating to the term ‘consciousness’?
2) Qualia do not appear to have physical properties that can be measured, and it is therefore difficult to prove whether they exist or not.

Define qualia, and give an example of a quale that is especially meaningful to you.
In your opinion, are qualia something separate from the brain? Does a quale contain information above and beyond the neural information it depends on? Discuss with reference to the thought-experiment of Mary the colour-scientist.
3) .” Daniel Dennett is the Devil. . . . There is no internal witness, no central recognizer of meaning, and no self other than an abstract ‘Center of Narrative Gravity’which is itself nothing but a convenient fiction. . . .For Dennett, it is not a case of the Emperor having no clothes. It is rather that the clothes have no Emperor.” (Voorhees, 2000, pp. 55-56).

Summarise Dennett’s theory that consciousness is like a magic trick in your own words.
Voorhees is exasperated by Dennett’s theory. To what extent do you share his dismay? Give reasons for your answer. NB If you choose to answer this question, this additional source will come in handy:
http://web.cs.swarthmore.edu/~meeden/cogs1/s07/DanielDennett.pdf (Links to an external site.)
4) According to Antonio Damasio, the split that Cartesian dualism perceives between the mind and the brain has had at least 2 major negative effects on the worlds of science and medicine.

Summarise these 2 negative effects and explain to what extent you agree with Damasio that their effect has in fact been negative.
What theory of the mind-body relationship does Damasio propose instead of Cartesian dualism, and to what extent do you find it attractive and plausible? Please refer to the sad stories of Phineas Gage and Elliot in your answer.
5) If every neuron in your brain is replaced by an artificial one – all changed from flesh to silicon before you die … will you still be alive after your death? If not, why not? Will you even notice a difference in your consciousness? If so, why? NB Please refer to qualia and the thought experiment of the Philosopher’s Zombie in your answer.

science of the mind
Write an essay of between 1,300 and 1,500 words on ONE of the following questions.

: The purpose of your essay is to:

1) Report on the research you have done

2) If appropriate, raise alternative points of view and considerations ignored or neglected by your sources

3) Articulate and defend your personal perspectives on these issues

The central skills you will be developing in this assignment are:

Critical Thinking and Analytical Reasoning
The Ability to Articulate and Defend Your Perspective In Writing.
You are welcome to come and see me during office hours to discuss your choice of sources and/or show me plans and drafts of your essay. You can come as many times as you like.

Essay Guidelines: Please read carefully!

Your essay must contain several references to and quotations from AT LEAST TWO relevant academic sources (books and /or peer-reviewed journal articles only please , no newspapers or websites please). These must be referenced properly, according to APA guidelines.
These sources should be taken from those that I posted for you on mycourses.
Essays that contain less than two references/quotations to the above-mentioned academic sources will get a C or less.
Essays should contain references to class discussions, in-class role plays etc.
Please upload your assignment on mycourses. I will not accept any assignments that are sent to me by email.
Any late assignments will be graded and capped at a C.
Students who fail the assignment or get a D will be allowed to redo the assignment, but it will be capped at a C.
Choose ONE of the following options:

1) “[So] we cannot know what it is like to be a bat even if we believe that there is something it is like”. Blackmore, p. 24

.Do you agree that we can’t ever really know what it is like to be a bat? Give reasons for your answer.
In what way does the question “What is it like to be a bat?” highlight the central issues and debates relating to the term ‘consciousness’?
2) Qualia do not appear to have physical properties that can be measured, and it is therefore difficult to prove whether they exist or not.

Define qualia, and give an example of a quale that is especially meaningful to you.
In your opinion, are qualia something separate from the brain? Does a quale contain information above and beyond the neural information it depends on? Discuss with reference to the thought-experiment of Mary the colour-scientist.
3) .” Daniel Dennett is the Devil. . . . There is no internal witness, no central recognizer of meaning, and no self other than an abstract ‘Center of Narrative Gravity’which is itself nothing but a convenient fiction. . . .For Dennett, it is not a case of the Emperor having no clothes. It is rather that the clothes have no Emperor.” (Voorhees, 2000, pp. 55-56).

Summarise Dennett’s theory that consciousness is like a magic trick in your own words.
Voorhees is exasperated by Dennett’s theory. To what extent do you share his dismay? Give reasons for your answer. NB If you choose to answer this question, this additional source will come in handy:
http://web.cs.swarthmore.edu/~meeden/cogs1/s07/DanielDennett.pdf (Links to an external site.)
4) According to Antonio Damasio, the split that Cartesian dualism perceives between the mind and the brain has had at least 2 major negative effects on the worlds of science and medicine.

Summarise these 2 negative effects and explain to what extent you agree with Damasio that their effect has in fact been negative.
What theory of the mind-body relationship does Damasio propose instead of Cartesian dualism, and to what extent do you find it attractive and plausible? Please refer to the sad stories of Phineas Gage and Elliot in your answer.
5) If every neuron in your brain is replaced by an artificial one – all changed from flesh to silicon before you die … will you still be alive after your death? If not, why not? Will you even notice a difference in your consciousness? If so, why? NB Please refer to qualia and the thought experiment of the Philosopher’s Zombie in your answer.