Reductionism and Antireductionism in Philosophy of Mind, February 7th, 2013

There will be a meeting today at 4pm in the Philosophy lounge at 14 Glebe Street. We will be discussing the impact of different theories of the mind (reductionism, and antireductionsim) and discuss the reasons behind taking up either one. Here are some sites to get basic information about the issues, and after the meeting we will post the content of discussion and possible areas to extend the discussion.

Information:

Reductionism (IEP)

Multiple Realizability (IEP argument for antireductionism) 

Supervenience (IEP)

The meeting went splendidly! About six people arrived excited to discuss the issue. We began with a brief introduction to the intentions of reductionism, and it’s successes. We then looked at some the problems that are often presented such as qualia, and the knowledge argument. these issues have been addressed multiple times in Phil 330 (Philosophy of Mind)  taught by Thomas Nadelhoffer, and the Phil 45o  (Consciousness and Percpetion Senior Seminar) taught by Christian Coseru so the participants were able to bring thoughts together while explaining the purpose of the thought experiments to students who aren’t in the classes.