Seminar Schedule
PHIL 383—From Neurons to Selves
Spring 2026, Michael
Taber
St. Mary’s College of
Maryland, USA
revised 30 October 2025
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] |
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Jan. 22 |
11 |
WICAD, pp. 23-34: “Why Consciousness
Escapes the Physicalist Net” |
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Jan. 27 |
27 |
· 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.] |
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Jan. 29 |
28 2 |
·
WICAD, pp. 63-91:
“What Consciousness Is” · Raymond M. Smullyan’s “An Unfortunate Dualist” |
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Feb. 03 |
15 |
·
WICAD, pp.
91-114: “Consciousness and the World” 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] 5-minute in-class quiz on material for today. |
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Feb. 05 |
17 2 |
· WICAD, pp. 114-131: “The Metaphysics of the Science of
Consciousness” · an interview with Jenann Ismael in this 2-minute
video · Terry Bisson’s short story “They’re Made Out of Meat” |
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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. |
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Feb. 10 |
20 2 2 2 3 |
· WICAD, ch. 3: Kind’s “Ignorance Is No Defense: Reply to Daniel Stoljar” · 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” |
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Feb. 12 |
19 |
WICAD,
ch. 4: Stoljar’s “Taking Non-Standard Options Seriously: Reply to Amy Kind” |
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Feb. 17 |
24 |
WICAD, chs. 5 & 6: Second Round of Replies, by Kind and by
Stoljar |
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Feb. 19 |
Email me your
4-6-page Paper #2 by end of class time (or by
tutorial time, whichever is earlier). No seminar, as tutorials will be
scheduled. |
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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” |
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Feb. 26 |
70 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] |
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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” |
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Mar. 05 |
24 |
Hedda Hassel
Mørch’s “Does Panpsychism Mean We Are All One?” |
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Mar. 10 |
23 |
Galen
Strawson’s “What Does ‘Physical’ Mean? A Prolegomenon to Physicalist
Panpsychism” |
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Mar. 12 |
13 |
Terry Horgan’s “Strawson on Panpsychism” |
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Spring recess |
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Mar. 24 |
All-day
academic advising—no classes today |
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Mar. 25 & 26 |
Email me your
5-7-page Paper #3 by noon on the 25th. No seminar on
the 26th, as tutorials will be scheduled. |
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Mar. 31* |
48 |
Being You: A New Science of
Consciousness, chs. 1 & 2: “The Real
Problem” & “Measuring Consciousness” |
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Apr. 02* |
38 |
Being You, chs. 3 & 4: “Phi” & “Perceiving from the Inside Out” |
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Apr. 7 |
5-minute
presentations about people’s research topics |
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Apr. 9 |
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Apr. 14* |
47 |
Being You, chs. 5 & 6: “The Wizard of Odds” & “The Beholder’s Stare” |
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Apr. 16* |
52 |
Being You, chs. 7-9: “Delirium” & “Expect Yourself” |
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Apr. 21* |
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. |
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Apr. 23* |
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” |
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Apr. 28 |
|
TBD |
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Apr. 30 |
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Friday, May 08 |
Final paper due emailed by end of finals slot,
2:00-4:15 p.m. |
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Send me comments: mstaber at
smcm dot edu
Go to the home page for this course.
Go to Michael Taber's home page.
Go to SMCM's home page.