Administration Guide

Errata:

9-April-2001
This document contains substantial corrections to the published Administration Guide. Please review the course times, dates and contact information especially.

1. Everything on a Single Page

Course Outline:

In this course we investigate two importantly different approaches to the Philosophy of Mind. Both traditions marry a theory of what minds are to a theory of how language works. The first is the three hundred year old tradition of Cartesian Dualism:minds are the specially private, non-physical, conscious part of ourselves; and language is a matter of attaching public words to ideas in such minds so that we can transfer them into other minds-in-bodies. The second tradition is the twentieth-century revolution of Ludwig Wittgenstein: language is not a matter of attaching words to things but a special sort of group activity we engage in; and minds are not the inner half of a human being but a special en-minded manner in which human beings language themselves around the world.

Objectives:

No attempt is made to "cover" the whole of the Philosophy of Mind. Instead, these two marriages of concepts and arguments - especially arguments - are "stretched out" and discussed in depth.

Textbook:

The (required) textbook is made from chapters of my own book, distributed in two parts:
Study Guide and Readings in the "Standard Tradition" and Study Guide and Readings in the "Wittgensteinian Tradition".
Thomas Mautner, The Penguin Dictionary of Philosophy, is recommended for purchase.

Internal classes:

One two-hour lecture per week, on Wednesday 10am - 12noon in MB2.14

* Internal tutorials:

One one-hour tutorial per week, on Wednesday 2 - 3pm in MB3.52, during Weeks Two through Thirteen; attendance counts 10 marks towards the final grade (1 mark per tutorial).

* Extramural campus course:

Starts at 9:00am Thursday 19 April and ends at 5:00pm Friday 20 April 2001, at the Turitea Campus; to be held in the Old Main Building, room MB3.54

Email course discussion forum:

[The old "email class forum" system was demolished last year and a new "class mailing list" system established, alas without anyone being told. Things are working again now.]

To get on the new mailing list, send an email to majordomo@massey.ac.nz with subscribe 134201-301class in the body of the email, nothing else. The forum email address is: 134201-301class@massey.ac.nz.

Assignments:

Two essays, each worth 19.5 marks for internal and 24.5 marks for extramural students.

Assignment due dates:

Friday 06 April (end Week Six), and Friday 25 May 2001 (end Week Eleven).

Final examination date:

Friday, 15 June 2001, AM (9:20am-12:30pm)

Assessment method:

Internal assessment 49%; Final examination 51%

Workload:

The course credit is 12.5 points; this translates to putting in an average of 12.5 hours of work each and every week.

Course Controller:

Dr. Thomas W. Bestor
School of History, Philosophy and Politics, Philosophy Programme
Old Main Building, Massey University Turitea Campus, Palmerston North

(I no longer live in Palmerston North but commute the campus Tuesday afternoon and return to Christchurch Thursday evening. As always, I hold office hours 24 hours a day.)

Massey office: Old Main Building, second floor, room 3.44
Office hours: Wednesday 12noon-2pm and 3pm-5pm and Thursday 10am-3:30pm
Massey phone: 06 356-9099 extn 7455 or 06 350-5799-7455
Massey fax: 06 350-5662

Home address:
until 26 April 2001: 25 Locksley Avenue, Dallington, Christchurch 8006
after 26 April 2001: 51 Dallington Terrace, Dallington, Christchurch 8006
Home fax: 06 381-6384
Home phone:
until 26 April 2001: 03 389-6149
after 26 April 2001: 03 381-6084
Mobile phone: 021 145-2955
Email: T.Bestor@massey.ac.nz
Website:http://homepages.inspire.net.nz/~bestor/philo/
http://www.massey.ac.nz/~wwhpp/Philpap.htm

Course Administrator:

Sharon Cox, Programme Secretary
School of History, Philosophy and Politics
Massey Phone: 06 350-4424
Massey Fax: 06 350-5662
Email: S.A.Cox@massey.ac.nz

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