PHIL 194J: Capstone Seminar: Other Minds
Capstone seminar for the major. There are (at least) two ways of thinking about the problem of other minds. The first I call "Cartesian," and it goes like this: "I believe that I have a mind, but the data and methods I use to arrive at this belief are not available to me when it comes to the minds of others. I cannot know others have minds in the same way I know I have a mind." The second I call "Kantian," and it goes like this: "I form my concept of mind out of my own experience, and I apply that concept to myself using criteria that also are based in my own experience. But when it comes to others, I can neither form a concept of mind out of their own experiences, nor apply my concept of mind to them, since the criteria I use in my own case cannot be met in the case of others." We will explore the problem of other minds, and its possible solutions and dissolutions, by reading selected works from both the analytic and continental traditions.
Last offered: Autumn 2022
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