Agency and Subjectivity PHIL 30410

2013/14 semester 1
Level: 3

Credits: 5

Lecturer: Rowland Stout

rowland.stout@ucd.ie
Lecture time and place: Tuesdays 6.30-8.30 in D522
Office: D502.
Course Description:
Our agency - that is our capacity to act intentionally and not merely be moved around by
the forces of nature - and our subjectivity - that is our capacity to have conscious
experience of the world - constitute central aspects of human nature. The course
investigates these two capacities and the relationship between them, with the aim of
casting some light on the question of what it is to have a mind.
Learning Outcomes:
After studying this course you will be able to:
display a critical grasp of some of the key ideas in contemporary philosophy of
mind and action;
develop your own line of argument concerning these key questions;
defend your line of argument on these questions with clarity, precision and depth;
present this defence in a professional manner.
Assessment:
(i)
There will be an essay (max 2000 words) due by the end of week 10, worth
40% of the total. Please check the Universitys plagiarism policy.
(ii)
There will be a 2 hour exam at the end of the semester worth 60% of the total.
The essay question will be posted on Blackboard under Assignments.

Reading:
Most of the required reading will be available either in pdfs in Blackboard under Texts
or in electronic journals through the librarys website. Good background texts for some
of the course are my own book, Action (Acumen Press) and Tim Crane, Elements of
Mind.
There are many other introductions to the philosophy of mind in the library. Do not use
any of these introductory books or any internet sources when writing your essay, as that
will mean you end up summarising other peoples views instead of developing your own.
Here is a selection - all housed at 128.2:

Braddon-Mitchell, David and Jackson, Frank, The philosophy of mind and cognition.
Carruthers, Peter, Introducing persons : theories and arguments in the philosophy of the mind.
Churchland, Paul M. Matter and consciousness.
Dennett, Daniel, Brainstorms.
Graham, George, Philosophy of mind: an introduction.
Heil, John, Philosophy of mind: a contemporary introduction.
Kim, Jaegwon, Philosophy of mind.
McGinn, Colin, The Character of mind.
Smith, Peter, and Jones, O. The philosophy of mind : an introduction.
Teichman, Jenny, The mind and the soul : an introduction to the philosophy of mind .

Further reading will be provided as the course progresses, and each week something will
be recommended for the following week.
Week by week course plan:
Week 1: Agents and Subjects, Minds and People
Week 2: Actions and Reasons
Week 3: Causal theories of action
Week 4: Intention
Week 5: Belief
Week 6: Behaviourism
Week 7: Functionalism
Week 8: Self-deception and the unconscious
Week 9: Consciousness
Week 10: Qualia
Week 11: Emotion
Week 12: Conclusion

READING LIST OF THINGS TO READ IN ADVANCE OF EACH WEEKS

WORK
- More complete lists will be provided as the course progresses
WEEK 1 Gilbert Ryle (1949), The Concept of Mind, chapter 1, pdf in Blackboard Texts
(BB)
WEEK 2 Donald Davidson (1963), Actions, Reasons and Causes, Journal of
Philosophy, 60: 685700.
WEEK 3 Rowland Stout (2007), Two ways to understand causality in agency, in Leist,
A. (ed.) Action in Context, available from my website:
http://www.ucd.ie/philosophy/staff/rowlandstout/publications/
WEEK 4 Donald Davidson (1978), Intending, reprinted in his Essays on Actions and
Events (1980), pdf in BB.
WEEK 5 Daniel Dennett (1981), True Believers: the Intentional Strategy and why it
works, in his Intentional Stance, pdf in BB.
WEEK 6 Richard Braithwaite (1933), The nature of believing, Proceedings of the
Aristotelian Society 33.
WEEK 7 Hilary Putnam (1963), Brains and Behavior, in his Mind, Language and
Reality, pdf in BB.
WEEK 8 Ian Deweese-Boys, Self-Deception in the Stanford Encyclopedia of
Philosophy, http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/self-deception/.
WEEK 9 David Rosenthal (1986), Two Concepts of Consciousness Philosophical
Studies 49.
WEEK 10 Frank Jackson (1982), Epiphenomenal Qualia Philosophical Quarterly 32.
WEEK 11 William James (1884), What is an Emotion?, Mind 9: 34, 188-204.