Seminar Schedule

PHIL 383—From Neurons to Selves

Spring 2026, Michael Taber

St. Mary’s College of Maryland, USA

revised 28 January 2026

The Google folder for this course contains some materials for the course.

For the thinkers and issues we’ll be discussing this semester, consider consulting as needed:

· Wikipedia—a good place to start; rarely a good place to end.

· the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (peer-reviewed, hence trustworthy)

· the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (peer-reviewed, and its articles are even more detailed than those of the IEP…sometimes more than one’d bargained for)

These latter two are both reputable sites; the articles are put there by people who know what they’re talking about.

* = sessions available for you to lead, in pairs, the day’s discussion

pages

Jan. 20	22	Come to the first seminar having read pp. 1-22 (“The Mind-Body Problem” & “The Consciousness Problem”) from What Is Consciousness: A Debate (Kind & Stoljar) [=WICAD]
Jan. 22	11	WICAD, pp. 23-34: “Why Consciousness Escapes the Physicalist Net”
Jan. 27	27 11	· WICAD, pp. 35-62: “Theories of Consciousness” & “Dualism Rebooted” · This video “Mary’s Room: A philosophical thought experiment” [5 mins.] · And now you can appreciate the song “What Mary Didn’t Know” by Dorian Electra [3 mins.] · MacFarquhar’s New Yorker profile of Patricia and Paul Churchland (two eliminative materialists), “Two Heads”
Jan. 29	4 28 2	· WICAD, pp. 63-68 ( = just Stoljar’s Introduction; then skip to p. 91) · WICAD, pp. 91-114: “Consciousness and the World” · Raymond M. Smullyan’s “An Unfortunate Dualist” · On the podcast Radiolab, listen to the episode entitled “Brain Balls” [46 min.]
Feb. 03	13 2 2 2 3 2	· from Skinner’s About Behaviorism (Skinner signs up in this book for what he calls radical behaviorism.) · Michael S. A. Graziano’s 2012 New York Times article argues against consciousness in “Are We Really Conscious?” (And readers responded.) · Galen Strawson’s 2016 New York Times article “Consciousness Isn’t a Mystery. It’s Matter” · Austin Frakt’s 2019 New York Times article “If ‘Pain Is an Opinion,’ There Are Ways to Change Your Mind” · Now you should be able to get some of the issues mentioned in George Johnson’s 2016 New York Times article “Consciousness: The Mind Messing with the Mind” · Even stranger than the apparent therapeutic equivalence that Johnson writes about between Prozac and CBT are the just plain weird ways in which we see the effectiveness of the placebo effect, as reported in the January 2026 article from The Economist, “A new study highlights the brain’s role in immune health.” 4 Khan Academy videos about neuronal functioning: · “Cerebral Cortex” [8:22] · “Overview of Neuron Function” [7:58] · “Neurotransmitter Release” [4:20] · “Neuron Resting Potential Description” [7:15]
Feb. 05	7 2	· WICAD, pp. 114-120 & pp. 130-131: “The Metaphysics of the Science of Consciousness” ( = through 3.2.3. & then 3.5.) · an interview with Jenann Ismael in this 2-minute video · Terry Bisson’s short story “They’re Made Out of Meat” · 5-minute in-class quiz on material for Feb. 03.
Feb. 08	Sunday: Email me your 2-3-page Paper #1 by noon, on some material from this seminar so far that you have found interesting.
Feb. 10	20	· WICAD, ch. 3: Kind’s “Ignorance Is No Defense: Reply to Daniel Stoljar”
Feb. 12	17	WICAD, ch. 4: Stoljar’s “Taking Non-Standard Options Seriously: Reply to Amy Kind” (skipping 4.5)
Feb. 17	24 9 5	· WICAD, chs. 5 & 6: Second Round of Replies, by Kind and by Stoljar · Searle’s “Biological Naturalism” · about Searle’s Chinese Room thought experiment · “Closer to Truth” interview with Liad Mudrik on whether AI can become conscious [9 mins.]
Feb. 19	Email me your 4-6-page Paper #2 by noon (or by tutorial time, whichever is earlier). No seminar, as tutorials will be scheduled.
Feb. 24	11 7	· Seager’s “Introduction: A Panpsychist Manifesto” · Philip Goff’s 2017 article in Philosophy Now, “The Case for Panpsychism” · Michael Correll’s pictorial SMP “Can Machines Think: A Philosophical Guide”
Feb. 26	90 min.	Videos from “Closer to Truth” about panpsychism: 1. an interview with Galen Strawson [9 minutes] 2. an interview with Yujin Nagasawa  [6 minutes] 3. a 2-part interview with Annaka Harris, a neuroscientist who finds herself reluctantly attracted to panpsychism: Part 1 & Part 2 [34 + 41 minutes]
Mar. 03	10 12	· Anil Seth’s “The Real Problem(s) with Panpyschism” · Harris’ “A Solution to the Combination Problem and the Future of Panpsychism” · “Closer to Truth” interview with Philip Goff on whether AI can become conscious [7 mins.] (“Panagentialism”?! Everything’s an agent?! Whaaaat?!)
Mar. 05	24	Hedda Hassel Mørch’s “Does Panpsychism Mean We Are All One?”
Mar. 10	16	Leidenhag’s “Why a Panpsychist Should Adopt Theism”
Mar. 12	Email me your 5-7-page Paper #3 noon (or by tutorial time, whichever is earlier). No seminar, as tutorials will be scheduled.
Spring recess
Mar. 24	All-day academic advising—no classes today
Mar. 26*	48	Being You: A New Science of Consciousness, chs. 1 & 2: “The Real Problem” & “Measuring Consciousness”
Mar. 31*	38	Being You, chs. 3 & 4: “Phi” & “Perceiving from the Inside Out”
Apr. 02*	47	Being You, chs. 5 & 6: “The Wizard of Odds” & “The Beholder’s Stare”
Apr. 7	5-minute presentations about people’s research topics
Apr. 9
Apr. 14*	52		Being You, chs. 7-9: “Delirium” & “Expect Yourself”
Apr. 16*	32		· Being You, chs. 10 & 11: “A Fish in Water” & “Degrees of Freedom” · Radiolab podcast episode “Revising the Fault Line” [49 mins.] (Note Robert Sapolsky’s strong reaction to the judge’s reasoning.) · Now you can listen to Rush’s 1980 song “Free Will,” with lyrics here.
Apr. 21*	46 3		Being You, chs. 12-epilogue: “Beyond Human” & “Machine Minds” Paul Conrad Samuelson’s 2019 article in Philosophy Now, “Artificial Consciousness: Our Greatest Ethical Challenge”
Apr. 23			TBD
Apr. 28			TBD
Apr. 30	Teach Your Family
Friday, May 08				Final paper due emailed by end of finals slot, 2:00-4:15 p.m.

Send me comments: mstaber at smcm dot edu

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