Phil 4084 Fall 2009
Animals and Philosophy of Mind
Thursdays 2:30-5:30
Professor: Dr. Kristin Andrews
Office: S420 Ross
Office Hours: 1-2 Monday & Thursday
Email: andrewsk@yorku.ca
In this course we will look at some of the philosophical issues about mind and cognition arising from the existence of nonhuman animals. We will examine ontological issues about whether nonhuman animals have minds, beliefs, or concepts, and epistemological issues about how we can know. From a philosophy of science perspective we will look at methodological approaches to studying animal minds. And we will look at three issues in philosophy that can be informed by what we know about animal behavior and physiology: language, morality, and theory of mind.
Texts:
Primates and Philosophers: How
Morality Evolved DeWaal
Species of Mind: The Philosophy
and Biology of Cognitive Ethology Allen
& Bekoff
Wild Justice: The Moral Lives of
Animals Bekoff & Pierce
Articles available on Moodle
http://moodle.yorku.ca/
Assignments:
Paper 1: 20%
Paper 2: 20%
Paper 3: 50%
Participation: 10%
Papers 1 and 2: A 5 page paper.
Sample topics:
- Evaluate some evidence for the claim that chimpanzees punish.
- Can a goal be attributed to an animal who is unable to attribute a desire?
Paper 3: A 10-12 page paper in which you
develop and defend an argument on one of the issues studied in the course. This may be a criticism of a paper that
we read during the term, or a positive argument in favor of a position on any
of the issues covered. Due during the Final Exam period.
Participation: Participation during course
discussion and on the course discussion board is an essential part of this
seminar. Philosophy is an
activity, after all! Both quality
of participation and quantity will be taken into account. But don't count on making only one
brilliant comment or constant pithy comments and getting full credit. Be considerate of your classmates, and
before you speak think about how your question or comment will promote the
discussion. You should be speaking
to one another in the course as well as speaking to me.
Note:
Late papers will be penalized 1/3 letter grade per day.
Tentative Schedule of readings
|
Date |
Topic |
Reading |
Due |
|
Sept 10 |
Introduction |
|
|
|
Sept 17 |
Science meets philosophy |
Allen & Bekoff Species of Mind Ch. 1-4 |
|
|
Sept 24 |
Consciousness |
Carruthers "Brute experience" Kretz "Peter Carruthers and brute experience" (Supplemental: Allen "Animal consciousness") |
|
|
Oct 1 |
Concepts |
Bermudez "Thinking without words" Allen "Animal concepts revisited: The use of self-monitoring as an empirical approach" |
|
|
Oct 8 |
Belief |
Davidson "Rational animals" Stich "Do animals have beliefs?" Dennett "Do animals have beliefs?" |
|
|
Oct 15 NO CLASS |
|
|
|
|
Oct 22 |
Methods: Ethology and Experiment |
Thorndike 'Animal intelligence' Allen "Is
anyone a cognitive ethologist?" |
PAPER 1 DUE |
|
Oct 29 |
Methods: Anthropomorphism and Anecdote |
deWaal Appendix A Sober "Comparative psychology meets evolutionary
biology" Jamieson "Science, knowledge, and animal minds" Povinelli "Panmorphism" |
|
|
Nov 5 |
Morality |
deWaal Part 1: Morality evolved deWaal Appendix C: Animal rights |
|
|
Nov 12 |
Morality |
Bekoff: Wild Minds |
|
|
Nov 19 |
Morality |
Bekoff: Wild Minds |
PAPER 2 DUE |
|
Nov 26 |
Language |
Chomsky "Human language and other semiotic systems" Lloyd "Kanzi, evolution, and language" |
|
|
Dec 3 |
Theory of mind |
Call & Tomasello "Does the chimpanzee have a theory of mind? 30 years later" Allen & Bekoff Ch 5 deWaal Appendix B |
|