Phil 239: Introspection and Phenomenality. Thursdays, 2-4pm.
Susanna Siegel, Emerson 317.
In this seminar we will consider the following questions. What is phenomenal consciousness? What is its relation to perception? Is it possible for a creature to have phenomenal consciousness, yet to lack any special first-person access to its phenomenal states? Are there asymmetries between our first-person and third- (or second-) person access to phenomenal states? What is the relation between the phenomenal aspects of perceptual experience and its intentional aspects? What does introspection tell us about this relation? What is introspection? What kinds of concepts may we form of phenomenal properties?
1.
Introduction. Is any kind of first-person access built in to the very notion of
the phenomenal?
Sept.
18 Introduction
Ned Block, “Concepts of Consciousness”, in D.
Chalmers, ed., Philosophy of Mind: Classical and Contemporary Readings,
OUP 2002.
2.
What is conscious perceptual experience? How is it related to first-person
warrant?
Sept.
25 Disjunctivism 1 The
epistemic motivation
M. G. F. Martin, “The Limits of Self-Awareness”,
forthcoming in Philosophical Studies, sections 1-4. Link to Kluwer site from: http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Philosophy/tar/Archives/002047.html
(prepublication date: 7/23/03. You’ll have to scroll
down a bit.)
Oct.
2 Disjunctivism
2 The epistemic characterization of hallucinations
M. G. hF. Martin, “The Limits of
Self-Awareness”, section 5-end
Oct.
9 Explicating
phenomenal consciousness by contrast with blindsight
Charles Siewert, The Significance of
Consciousness, chapter 3, chapter 6, and pp. 10-27 of chapter 1.
Recommended: Siewert’s Precis, Commentaries
by Dretske, Lycan, and Thomasson, and Siewert’s replies, all in Psyche: An
Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Consciousness, vol. 7-9, Symposium
on The Significance of Consciousness. Available at http://psyche.cs.monash.edu.au
2.
What is introspection?
Oct.
16 Various
kinds of awareness
Fred Dretske, “The Mind’s Awareness of Itself”, in Perception,
Knowledge and Belief. New York: Cambridge 2000. Also in Philosophical
Studies 1999, 1-22.
Oct.
23 Various
kinds of privileged access
William Alston, “The Varieties of Privileged
Access”, in his Epistemic Justification, 1989, Cornell Univ. Press. Also
in American Philosophical Quarterly 8, no. 3, 1971.
[Oct.
30: no class]
3.
Transparency: What is the relation between the phenomenal and the intentional
aspects of visual experience? What does introspection reveal about this
relation?
Nov.
6 The
transparency argument for intentionalism
Daniel Stoljar, “The Argument from Diaphanousness”,
forthcoming in Language, Mind and World: Special Issue of the Canadian
Journal of Philosophy. Eds. M. Escurdia, R. Stainton and C. Viger. http://philrsss.anu.edu.au/block.php3
Nov.
13 The oblique perspective
Brian Loar, “Transparent Experience and the
Availability of Qualia” in Consciousness, eds. A. Jokic and Q.
Smith, OUP 2002.
4.
Phenomenal concepts
Nov.
20 Various kinds of phenomenal concepts
David Chalmers, “The Content and Epistemology of
Phenomenal Belief” Appendix and 1-3. http://www.u.arizona.edu/~chalmers/papers.html, and in Smith and Jokic, Consciousness.
Dec.
4 The
epistemic role of phenomenal concepts
Chalmers, “The Content and Epistemology of
Phenomenal Belief”, section 4-end
Dec.
11 The role of recognition in phenomenal concepts
Janet Levin, “What is a Phenomenal Concept?”,
forthcoming from OUP in T. Alter and S. Walter, Phenomenal Concepts and Phenomenal Knowledge: New Essays on
Consciousness.