Instructor Insights

Instructor Insights pages are part of the OCW Educator initiative, which seeks to enhance the value of OCW for educators.

Course Overview

This page focuses on the course 24.500 Topics in Philosophy of Mind: Mental Content as it was taught by Alex Byrne and Agustín Rayo in Spring 2015.

Propositions are everywhere in the philosophy of mind. Believing, hoping, and intending (for example) are said to be “propositional attitudes,” mental states that involve relations to propositions. This seminar examines issues at the heart of the dispute between the proposition-aficionados and their detractors. The course is divided into five parts: (1) de se thought; (2) propositions; (3) knowing how; (4) perceptual content; and (5) the knowledge argument.

Course Outcomes

Course Goals for Students

  • Discuss readings spotlighting de se thought, propositions, knowing how, perceptual content, and the knowledge argument
  • Examine issues at the heart of the dispute between proposition-aficionados and their detractors
  • Synthesize understanding of one of the topics in the course in a lengthy term paper

Curriculum Information

Prerequisites

Permission of instructor

Requirements Satisfied

CI-M

Offered

Variable semester offerings

 

Instructor Insights

We, as the instructors, disagreed on many philosophical issues and aired our disagreements in the seminar. This made for a more lively class, and was also (we think) helpful for the students.

—Alex Byrne and Agustín Rayo

Below, Alex Byrne and Agustín Rayo describe various aspects of how they taught 24.500 Topics in Philosophy of Mind: Mental Content.

Selecting Content

In this class, the specific readings often followed naturally from the topics we addressed. There are certain classic pieces any discussion of (say) knowing how should include, and we read those. We also took advantage of visitors to MIT and philosophers in the area whose research included topics from the seminar, and invited them to give presentations.

Keeping Class Engaging

Some of the topics we discussed in the class led naturally to rich discussion, because they raised methodological questions about how best to attack the problems around which the debates were centered.

Moreover, we, as the instructors, disagreed on many philosophical issues and aired our disagreements in the seminar. This made for a more lively class, and was also (we think) helpful for the students.

We devoted the final session of the class to student-presentations, with each student spending 15 or 20 minutes talking about their final paper. This seemed like a fun and interesting event for all concerned. We thought it was especially helpful for students to get feedback from their peers, and to get a sense of what others were working on.

 

Assessment

The following factors were considered when determining students’ grades:

  • Class attendance
  • Assigned readings
  • A 20-25 page final paper

Student Information

On average, fewer than 10 students take this course each time it is offered.

Typical Student Background

Most of the students in this class were philosophy graduate students from MIT and neighboring universities.

 

How Student Time Was Spent

During an average week, students were expected to spend 12 hours on the course, roughly divided as follows:

In Class

3 hours per week
  • Met 1 time per week for 3 hours per session; 15 sessions total.
  • Three sessions featured guest speakers.
  • Students presented their papers during one of the final sessions.
 

Out of Class

9 hours per week
  • Students spent time outside of class on the assigned and supplementary readings.
  • Students also researched and wrote their final papers, which were 20-25 pages in length.
 

Semester Breakdown

WEEK M T W Th F
1 No classes throughout MIT. No session scheduled. Lecture session scheduled. No session scheduled. No session scheduled.
2 No session scheduled. No session scheduled. Lecture session scheduled. No session scheduled. No session scheduled.
3 No classes throughout MIT. No session scheduled. Guest lecture session scheduled. No session scheduled. No session scheduled.
4 No session scheduled. No session scheduled. Lecture session scheduled. No session scheduled. No session scheduled.
5 No session scheduled. No session scheduled. Lecture session scheduled. No session scheduled. No session scheduled.
6 No session scheduled. No session scheduled. Lecture session scheduled. No session scheduled. No session scheduled.
7 No session scheduled. No session scheduled. Guest lecture session scheduled. No session scheduled. No session scheduled.
8 No classes throughout MIT. No classes throughout MIT. No classes throughout MIT. No classes throughout MIT. No classes throughout MIT.
9 Guest lecture session scheduled. No session scheduled. No session scheduled. No session scheduled. No session scheduled.
10 No session scheduled. No session scheduled. Lecture session scheduled. No session scheduled. No session scheduled.
11 No session scheduled. No session scheduled. Lecture session scheduled. No session scheduled. No session scheduled.
12 No classes throughout MIT. No classes throughout MIT. Lecture session scheduled. No session scheduled. No session scheduled.
13 No session scheduled. No session scheduled. Lecture session scheduled. No session scheduled. No session scheduled.
14 No session scheduled. No session scheduled. Lecture session scheduled; student presentations. No session scheduled. No session scheduled.
15 No session scheduled. No session scheduled. Lecture session scheduled; assignment due date. No session scheduled. No classes throughout MIT.
16 No classes throughout MIT. No classes throughout MIT. No classes throughout MIT. No classes throughout MIT. No classes throughout MIT.
Displays the color and pattern used on the preceding table to indicate dates when classes are not held at MIT. No classes throughout MIT
Displays the color used on the preceding table to indicate dates when lecture sessions are held. Lecture session
Displays the color used on the preceding table to indicate dates when students presentations are held. Student presentations
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