HPS 1616 Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence

Fall 2003 (04-1) CRN: 38276

Instructor

Dr Paul Griffiths - 1017CL, 4-5879, pauleg@pitt.edu (I prefer to be contacted by email. Please put ‘1616’ or ‘Philosophy and AI’ in the subject line. My reply may come from various other addresses – they all end up at the same place and may be used interchangeably.)

Times

Classes: Tuesday & Thursday 2:30-3:45 CL 242. Office hours by appointment.

Required Texts

• Clark, A. (2001). Mindware: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Cognitive Science. Oxford and New York: OUP. (Abbreviated below as ‘C’)
• Stich, S. P., & Warfield, T. A. (Eds.). (2003). Blackwell Guide to the Philosophy of Mind. Oxford and New York: Oxford. (Abbreviated below as ‘SW’)
• Any additional material will be made are available for photocopying in the 1616 box next to the photocopier in 1017D CL

Assessment

• Two short papers (1000-1200wds) analysing one chapter which you have read for class prior to the due date of the paper. Papers on chapters from Clark should show familiarity with at least some of the recommended further reading at the end of the chapter. Papers on chapters from Stich & Warfield should show familiarity with at least some of the references in that chapter.
• One more substantial paper, (c3000wds) discussing one of the named topics (see below) covered in the course. Due date Dec 8^th (40%).

• Adequate preparation for classes as evidenced by active participation in discussion (10%).
• Due Dates

o The first paper is due October 10^th. Instead of classes that week I will be available by appointment Tuesday - Thursday to discuss your papers.

o The second paper is due by November 25^th at the latest. I will mark the second essay at any time in November that you choose to hand it in, so as to make it easier to space your work for this and other courses through the semester and so that you can begin work on your third paper if you have already chosen a topic.

o The third paper is due December 8^th.

Week	Class Date	Topic	Reading
1.	August 26	Introduction	Clark, Introduction
	August 28	Artificial Intelligence	C1
2.	September 2	GOFAI (good, old-fashioned AI)	C2
	September 4	Intentional Realism	C3
3.	September 9	Eliminitivism Reading for this week: Churchland, P. M (1981). Eliminative materialism & propositional attitudes. Journal of Philosophy, 78, 67-90. In the copying box in 1017 CL or on the web at: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022-362X%28198102%2978%3A2%3C67%3AEMATPA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-8
	September 11	Class cancelled
4.	September 16	Folk Psychology	SW10
	September 18	Connectionism	C4
5.	September 23	Connectionism vs GOFAI	SW7
	September 25	Psychosemantics I	SW6
6.	September 30	Psychosemantics II	SW6
	October 2	Metaphysics of Mind	C Appendix I
7.	October 7-9	No classes, but I will be available for individual consultation on your first paper Tuesday to Thursday	First paper due 10^th at 5.00pm
8.	October 14	Metaphysics of Mind	SW2
	October 16	Neural Reductionism	SW 14
9.	October 21	Embodied Cognition	C5
	October 24	Individualism	SW 11
10.	October 28	Embodied Cognition	C6
	October 30	Guest lecture by Prof. Keeley	tba
11.	November 4	Embodied Cognition	C7
	November 6	Guest lecture by Prof. Grush	tba
12.	November 11	Embodied Cognition	C8
	November 13	Emotion	SW12
13.	November 18	Emotion	SW12
	November 20	Consciousness	C Appendix II
14.	November 25	Class cancelled for paper preparation	Second paper due 25^th at 5.00pm
	November 27	Thanksgiving Break
15.	December 2	Consciousness	SW5
	December 4	Consciousness	SW5
16.	December 8 -13	Exam Week	Third paper due December 8^th at 9.00am

Note: I have kept the readings to a realistic length as I expect you to have read and made notes on them so as to be able to participate in class discussion.