Universität Wien

180097 SE Embodiment, cognition and animal philosophy of mind (2014S)

5.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 18 - Philosophie
Continuous assessment of course work

Achtung!! Hörsaaltausch von HS 3 D auf HS 2 i!!!
Moodle

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 45 participants
Language: German

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

Achtung!! Die Lehrveranstaltung findet am 17.06.2014 ausnahmsweise im Hauptgebäude HS 29 statt.

  • Tuesday 11.03. 15:00 - 17:00 Hörsaal 2i NIG 2.Stock C0228
  • Tuesday 18.03. 15:00 - 17:00 Hörsaal 2i NIG 2.Stock C0228
  • Tuesday 25.03. 15:00 - 17:00 Hörsaal 2i NIG 2.Stock C0228
  • Tuesday 01.04. 15:00 - 17:00 Hörsaal 2i NIG 2.Stock C0228
  • Tuesday 08.04. 15:00 - 17:00 Hörsaal 2i NIG 2.Stock C0228
  • Tuesday 29.04. 15:00 - 17:00 Hörsaal 2i NIG 2.Stock C0228
  • Tuesday 06.05. 15:00 - 17:00 Hörsaal 2i NIG 2.Stock C0228
  • Tuesday 13.05. 15:00 - 17:00 Hörsaal 2i NIG 2.Stock C0228
  • Tuesday 20.05. 15:00 - 17:00 Hörsaal 2i NIG 2.Stock C0228
  • Tuesday 27.05. 15:00 - 17:00 Hörsaal 2i NIG 2.Stock C0228
  • Tuesday 03.06. 15:00 - 17:00 Hörsaal 2i NIG 2.Stock C0228
  • Tuesday 17.06. 15:00 - 17:00 Hörsaal 29 Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 7
  • Tuesday 24.06. 15:00 - 17:00 Hörsaal 2i NIG 2.Stock C0228

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

Animal philosophy has become an important field of interest in contemporary philosophy. Various positions concerning animal ethics are well-established in applied ethics. And the increasing interest in theoretical animal philosophy has to deal with central questions of epistemology, analytical philosophy of language and cognitive science.
This seminar will focus on important aspects of the recent debate on self-/awareness in animals. The main focus shall be on bodily awareness/embodiment; something peculiar human and nonhuman animals have in common. Markus Wild's and David DeGrazia's papers will provide a helpful overview also with reference to the current debate on philosophy of embodiment.
Apart from a few Neo-Cartesians it is undisputed that vertebrates as well as higher invertebrates are sentient beings. Therefore they must have conscious mental states. But when and how do conscious states turn into self-consious states? This is one of the most controversially discussed questions. But whenever nonhuman experiental subjects are able to experience themselves as themselves, we have to deal with basic forms of bodily self-awareness as well.
Phenomenological investigations concerning the first-person-perspective and prereflective, nonlinguistic embodiment are especially insightful. Shaun Gallagher's and Dan Zahavi's introduction will help us to investigate embodied minds and their different levels of cognition: intentionality, representational body image and sensorimotor body schema, egocentric spatial and autonoetic temporal awareness, phenomenal consciousness and proprioceptive bodily awareness.

Assessment and permitted materials

Regular participation and discussion, (short) presentation with handouts, seminar paper

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

Understanding important texts and arguments of a highly relevant contemporary philosophical debate by close reading, discussing, presenting and writing papers.

Examination topics

At the beginning the lecturer will review the main points of the last session; followed by a student's short presentation of an article (or certain passages); discussion.

Reading list

Alloa, E. u.a. (Hg.): Leiblichkeit, Tübingen 2012.
DeGrazia, D.: Self-awareness in animals, in: Lurz, R. W. (Hg.): The Philosophy of Animal Minds, Cambridge 2009, 201-217.
Fingerhut, J. u.a. (Hg.): Philosophie der Verkörperung, Berlin 2013.
Gallagher, S./Zahavi, D.: The Phenomenological Mind. An Introduction to Philosophy of Mind and Cognitive Science, New York 2008.
Wild, M.: Tierphilosophie zur Einführung, Hamburg 2008.
Wild, M.: Fische. Kognition, Bewusstsein und Schmerz, Bern 2012.

Association in the course directory

BA M 14, BA M 11

Last modified: Sa 10.09.2022 00:19