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Course Info for PHIL - 319 - 01, Spring 2025
Class number: 2841 Title: Phil of Neurosci/Psychiatry Department: Philosophy
Career: Undergraduate Component: Lecture Session: Regular
Instructor's Permission Required: No Grading Basis: Graded Units: 1.00
Enrollment limited to 25 Current enrollment: 25 Available seats: 0
Start date: Tuesday, January 21, 2025 End date: Friday, May 9, 2025 Mode of Instruction: In Person
Schedule: R: 1:30PM-4:10PM, MECC - 270 Instructor(s): Theurer, Kari
Prerequisite(s): None
Distribution Requirement: Meets Humanities Requirement
Course Description:
The rapid development of neuroscience as a discipline has resurrected many longstanding philosophical problems and has raised new ones. In this course we will consider foundational issues within the neurosciences, the application of neuroscientific methods to traditional philosophical problems, and the special problems raised by psychiatry and its relationship to neuroscience. What, if anything, distinguishes explanation in neuroscience from explanation in other sciences? What is the relationship between neuroscience, psychology, and psychiatry? What can neuroscience tell us about the nature of consciousness? Do various neurological or psychiatric syndromes tell us anything about the nature of the self? Are psychiatric disorders "real", or are they cultural constructs? We will consider all of these questions and more.