Understanding human rational capacities has been a major concern of philosophers from antiquity to modern times. Nobody seems to doubt that human beings have such capacities, but philosophers scrutinizing their own and others’ mental activities come up with different results concerning questions such as: What is the mind? and How does it work? The seminar traces the rise of the notion of the mind to its dominant position in conceptions of rationality and philosophical psychology.
Method of instruction
Research seminar
Examination
Active student participation – preparation, presentation, term paper
Required reading
*Nussbaum, Martha C. and Amélie Oksenberg Rorty, eds. Essays on Aristotle’s De anima. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992. *Annas, Julia. Hellenistic Philosophy of Mind. Berkeley, 1992. *Brentano, Franz. ‘Nous poietikos: Survey of Earlier Interpretations.’ In Essays on Aristotle’s “De Anima”, edited by M.C. Nussbaum and A.O. Rorty, 313-41. Oxford, 1992.
Timetable
see Timetable MPhil in Philosophy: Rationality 2008-2009
Registration
Please register for this course with the student administration: y.van.eijk@phil.leidenuniv.nl
Information
prof. dr. F.A.J. de Haas ( f.a.j.de.haas@phil.leidenuniv.nl)
Remarks
Compulsory course for second-year students in specialisation Rationality and the Scientific Mind.