Instructor: Dylan Ludwig (dylan.m.ludwig@gmail.com)
Seminar Time/Location: Mondays 2:30-5:30, Vari Hall 1152
Office: Ross Building North 821 Office Hours: Mondays, 12:30-1:30 (or by appointment)

This course will focus on a core problem in the philosophy of mind:
conscious experience. Our starting point will be a famous bet between a prominent philosopher
(David Chalmers) and a prominent neuroscientist (Christof Koch) concerning the project of
explaining consciousness in terms of its underlying psychological and neural mechanisms. Then,
from a philosophical perspective, we’ll consider a range of modern attempts to make progress
on these fundamental issues. We’ll look at various empirically informed theories of
consciousness (including Information Integration Theory, Global Workspace Theory, Higher
Order Thought Theory, and the UAL Theory), the relationship between emotion and
consciousness, the study of consciousness in non-human animals, as well as attempts to
identify the psychological function(s) of consciousness.

Online readings

Attendance and Participation 10%-Attendance will be taken each class, and it is important to
show up to each class ready to discuss the assigned reading material.
Reading Responses 30%- You will be asked to submit 3 short reading response papers (worth
10% each) that will address topics that arise in the weekly assigned readings. These will be no
more than 2 double-spaced pages, submitted to Turnitin BY NOON on the day of class where
we will discuss the relevant readings. See Reading Schedule for specific dates.
Paper Outline 10%-(Due February 26th) You will be asked to submit an outline for your final
paper idea, no more than 2 double-spaced pages, that includes an abstract with thesis
statement and outline of the main argumentative strategy, and a short literature review.
Presentation 10% (March 25th/April 1st)-Students will deliver a short presentation of their paper
idea and receive constructive feedback from the class.
Final Paper 40%-(Due April 15th) Submit a final paper to Turnitin, 10-12 double-spaced pages,
normal formatting and citation rules apply.
AI Policy: The use of any generative AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT) is strictly prohibited for all
assignments in this course and will be considered academic dishonesty if detected. If any such
use is suspected, students will immediately be asked to meet with the course director to discuss
the work in question. Please feel free to reach out at any point in the semester (the sooner the
better) if you have any questions concerning which tools are appropriate to use in support of
your academic writing.

TBA

TBA

Reading Schedule
(All readings available online through the York University Library/eClass)
Week 1 (January 8th): Introduction to the Philosophy of Consciousness-Progress and Problems
Week 2 (January 15th): Hard and Easy Problems ***Reading Response Due***
• Chalmers, D. (2017). The hard problem of consciousness. The Blackwell companion to
consciousness, 32-42.
• Miracchi, L. (2019). None of These Problems Are That 'Hard'... or 'Easy': Making Progress
on the Problems of Consciousness. Journal of Consciousness Studies, 26(9-10), 160-172.
Week 3 (January 22nd): Information Integration Theory
• Tononi, G. & Koch, C. (2015). Consciousness: here, there, and everywhere? Phil. Trans.
R. Soc. B 370, 20140167.
• Koch, C. (2019). Excerpts. The Feeling of Life Itself: Why Consciousness is Widespread but
Can’t Be Computed. MIT Press, Cambridge.
Week 4 (January 29th): Global Workspace Theory ***Reading Response Due***
• Dehaene, S. (2014). Chapter 2: Fathoming Unconscious Depths. Consciousness and the
brain: Deciphering how the brain codes our thoughts. Viking. Pages 56-99.
• Dehaene, S. (2014). Chapter 3: What is Consciousness Good For? Consciousness and the
brain: Deciphering how the brain codes our thoughts. Viking. Pages 100-126.
Week 5 (February 5th): Higher-Order Thought Theory
• Brown, R., Lau, H., & LeDoux, J. E. (2019). Understanding the higher-order approach to
consciousness. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 23(9): 754-768.
• Cleeremans, A., Achoui, D., Beauny, A., Keuninckx, L., Martin, J. R., Muñoz-Moldes, S.,
Vuillaume, L., & de Heering, A. (2020). Learning to Be Conscious. Trends in cognitive
sciences, 24(2), 112–123.
Week 6 (February 12th): UAL Theory ***Reading Response Due***
• Ginsburg, S., & Jablonka, E. (2019). Chapter 4: A Biological Bridge Across the Qualia
Gap? The evolution of the sensitive soul: learning and the origins of consciousness. MIT
Press, 149-189.
Week 7 (February 19th): READING WEEK-NO CLASSES
Week 8 (February 26th): Consciousness and Emotion ***PAPER OUTLINE DUE***
• LeDoux, J. E., & Brown, R. (2017). A higher-order theory of emotional
consciousness. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114(10), E2016-E2025.
• Carruthers, P. (2018). Valence and value. Philosophy and Phenomenological
Research, 97(3), 658-680.
Week 9: (March 4th): Consciousness and Non-Human Animals
• Boyle, A. (2020). The impure phenomenology of episodic memory. Mind and
Language 35 (5):641-660.
• Birch, J. (2022). The search for invertebrate consciousness. Noûs, 56(1), 133-153.
Week 10 (March 11th): The Function(s) of Consciousness-Part 1
• Seth, A. (2009). Functions of Consciousness. In Banks, P W. (ed.) (2009). Encyclopedia of
Consciousness: A - L. Elsevier.
• Cohen, M. A. & Dennett, D. C. (2011). Consciousness cannot be separated from function.
Trends in Cognitive Sciences, Vol. 15, No. 8.
Week 11 (March 18th): The Function(s) of Consciousness-Part 2
• Cleeremans, A., & Tallon-Baudry, C. (2022). Consciousness matters: phenomenal
experience has functional value. Neuroscience of Consciousness, 2022(1), niac007.
• Ludwig, D. (2022). The functional contributions of consciousness. Consciousness and
Cognition, 104, 103383.
Week 12 (March 25th): Student Presentations
Week 13 (April 1st): Student Presentations
Week 14 (April 8th): Wrap Up Discussion
*Syllabus subject to change given sufficient notice.