Week 1: Seminar Questions on MacFarquhar, “Two Minds”

Focus on the questions 1-3 in small groups (4 or 5 students per group). We will discuss questions 4-5 and any additional comments and questions that arise in the full seminar.

1. What is folk psychology (p. 62)? What is Paul Churchland’s view of folk psychology? How much credence should philosophers place in folk psychology as the basis for their ideas? Compare the language of folk psychology and a new language informed by neuroscience (pp. 68-69)—what language do you prefer?

2. According to the article, what is the Churchlands’ approach to philosophy? How is it different from other approaches to philosophy mentioned in the article? How does each group view the aims and methods of philosophy?

3. According to the article, what is Thomas Nagel’s view of consciousness in “What is it like to be a bat?” (pp. 64-65)? How does Nagel’s view differ from the Churchlands’ view of consciousness? Can we understand what it is like to have the consciousness, if any, of some other (nonhuman) organism? Can we understand the consciousness of a human being from a radically different culture than our own? Does an attempt to understand the consciousness of human organisms and nonhuman organisms present the same kind of difficulties?

4. What can different disciplines contribute to an understanding of consciousness? How do philosophy and science differ, if at all, in their potential contributions?

5. If the Churchlands’ approach to consciousness is correct, what are the implications for ethics and social policy? Consider their statements on p. 68 as a starting point.