College Seminar                                                                                        Professor Erik Anderson

Personal Identity and Immortality                                                      Office: Sycamore 2^nd Floor

Fall 2010                                                                                                      Office Hours: M, TH 3:00-4:00

MF 12:00-12:50                                                                                           Phone: 973-408-3871

                                                                                                                        Email: eanderso@drew.edu

Course Content

This course provides students with an introduction to philosophical theories of personal identity and basic philosophical methodology. A central aim of the course is to put the student in the position to ask, meaningfully, what it would be for a person to be immortal, that is, what it would be for someone to survive their own death.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of the College Seminar, students will be able to:

• Enter into and participate in a scholarly conversation both orally and in writing;
• Comprehend, evaluate and analyze materials and texts [written, aural, visual numeric] as well as think synthetically and creatively about them;
• Evaluate and explain the appropriate use of different kinds of information from a variety of academic and non-academic sources
• Identify several philosophical theories of personal identity and immortality.
  

Grading Policy
The College Seminar is a collective exploration of a topic.  Its success depends on the thorough preparation and participation of each of its members.  Missing class means depriving yourself of the insights you will gain through discussion and depriving others in the room of your contributions.  Therefore students are expected to be present at each meeting of the seminar and prepared to participate fully in the conversation. 

Attendance and Participation 50%

Attendance at all sessions is expected. Students will not be penalized for absences covered by a Drew Policy (e.g. death in the family; athletes are allowed a maximum of two absences).
Participation will be evaluated on the basis of a rubric.

Course Assignments 50%

Assignments are not counted if you are not in class; missed writing assignments and oral presentations cannot be made up.

NOTE: There is no extra-credit in this course.

Texts

Perry John, ed., Personal Identity, 2nd edition, Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2008.

Hofstadter, Douglas, and Dennett, Daniel, eds., The Mind’s I, New York, NY: Basic Books, 1981.

Edwards, Paul, Immortality, Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 1997

Reading Schedule and Written Assignments

Week One (Aug. 30-Sept. 3)

                Aug. 30

                No reading.

                In class: what is necessary and sufficient for being you?

                Sept. 3

                The Mind's I, Chapters 1 &2

                Rewrite your in-class exercise from Monday, incorporating some important insight from either the Borges or the Harding article.

Week Two (Sept. 6-10) No class Sept.6.

                Sept. 10

                Introduction to The Mind's I

Bring to class five discussion questions about the reading to share with the seminar.

Week Three (Sept. 13-17) Sept. 13 Last day to drop without a W.

Sept. 13

Immortality,_ _Chapter 1

Choose a piece of text from the reading that you find especially provocative and write a paragraph explaining why you think it is important for the concept of personal identity.

Sept. 17

Immortality, Chapter 5

                Bring to class five questions you would like to pose to Descartes concerning Chapter 5.

Week Four (Sept. 20-24)

                Sept. 20

Personal Identity, Chapter 2, Sections 3, 6, 9, 10, 16, 22

Write an abstract of the chapter – one paragraph in which you identify the main point of the argument and key subordinate points.

                Sept. 24

                Prior to class, watch The Matrix, on DrewTube (channel 81) shown at one of these times:

Monday, Sept. 20 at 10:00 pm

Wednesday, Sept. 22 at 9:00 pm

Thursday, Sept. 23 at 7:00 pm

In a couple of paragraphs, answer the following:

Is Thomas Anderson a person? Explain. [Hint: apply Locke’s definition of person.] Is Neo a person? Explain. Is Thomas Anderson the same person as Neo? Explain.

Week Five (Sept. 27-Oct. 1)

                Sept. 27

                The Mind's I, Chapter 4

                Two-part essay (one page max):

What is the imitation game and what use does Turing propose for it?

Summarize Turing’s reply to one of the objections discussed at the end of his article.

                Oct. 1

                The Mind's I, Chapter 5

Identify one compelling argument from the dialog and summarize it; identify one not-so-compelling argument from the dialog and critique it.

Week Six (Oct. 4-8)

                Oct. 4

Personal Identity, Chapter 7

In a concise paragraph address the following: In what way does Reid’s case of the brave officer pose a challenge to Locke’s theory of personal identity?

Oct. 8

Immortality, Chapter 7

Place the reading for today in conversation with a prior reading in the class (your choice).  Write a paragraph or two in which you look at the interaction between Butler’s argument and the other one you have identified.  Do they agree or disagree?  Are they making similar arguments but in different ways?

Week Seven (Oct. 11-15)

                Oct. 11

                The Mind's I, Chapters 6-8

Write a synthesis paragraph in which you draw some commonalities from the three chapters.

                Oct. 15

The Mind’s I,_ _Chapter 12

Bring to class five discussion questions about the reading to share with the seminar. Pay particular attention to the second paragraph on p. 204 and the second paragraph on p. 208.

Week Eight (Oct. 18-22) We meet Wed., Oct. 20, but not Mon., Oct. 18.

Oct. 20

                The Mind's I, Chapter 13

Make a map of the argument presented in “Where Am I?”.  Draw a picture or diagram, make a chart or a list – choose whatever visual representation most clearly lays out the structure of the argument for you.

Oct. 22

More of the same.

Week Nine (Oct. 25-29)

Oct. 25

                Personal Identity, Chapters 10, 11, 12

Write a paragraph in which you summarize what you take to be the main thesis of these three chapters.

Oct. 29

Immortality, Chapter 15

Place the reading for today in conversation with a prior reading in the class.  Write a paragraph or two in which you look at the interaction between this argument and the other one you have identified.  Do they agree or disagree?  Are they making similar arguments but in different ways?

Week Ten (Nov. 1-5)

Nov. 1

The Mind’s I, Chapter 18

Write a paragraph that places the main theme of this chapter into dialog with the essay you wrote for Oct. 11.

Nov. 5

                The Mind's I, Chapter 20

Pick one idea from this chapter and write a paragraph on why you think it is particularly important for the notion of personal identity.

Week Eleven (Nov. 8-12)

Nov. 8

                Immortality, chapters 24 and 25

Synthesize some main points of the two chapters, concentrating on the concept of immortality through resurrection.

Nov. 12

Immortality, Chapter 27

Find your own example of psychical research that alleges to be evidence for life after death. Write a paragraph in which you place your example in dialog with the reading for today.

Week Twelve (Nov. 15-19)

                Nov. 15

The Mind’s I, Chapter 24

Identify the main thesis of the chapter and then draw a connection to Borges’ discussion in Chapter 1, “Borges and I.”

Nov. 19

The Mind’s I, Chapter 27

Write a critical summary of the article you read – one paragraph in which you identify the main point of the argument and subject it to critique.

Week Thirteen (Nov. 22-26)  No class Nov. 26. Happy Thanksgiving!

Immortality, Chapter 33

Can you identify omissions in the argument you just read?  What’s not addressed or discussed that seems to you important to the argument the article tries to make? List a couple of omissions that you identify. Write a sentence or two in which you suggest how their inclusion would change the argument

Week Fourteen (Nov. 29-Dec. 3)

                Personal Identity, Chapter 15

Discuss why Nagel rejects hypothesis (1). Is he right to reject it?

Immortality, Chapter 34

What is the importance of the “teleportation” case discussed on p. 311? How is it related to the case of “divided minds” discussed by Nagel?

Academic Accommodations: Should you require academic accommodations, you must file a request with the Office of Educational Affairs (BC 114, extension 3327). It is your responsibility to self-identify with the Office of Educational Affairs and to provide me with the appropriate documentation from that office at least one week prior to any request for specific course accommodations.  There are no retroactive accommodations.

Academic Integrity: All work in the College Seminar must adhere to the College Standards on Academic Integrity. You must do your own work. You must cite sources appropriately in all papers and presentations. You must acknowledge the contribution of other students to your work. Any student who is in violation of this policy will be referred to the Dean’s Office for further action. The policy can be found at:

  http://depts.drew.edu/cladean/drewonly/Academic%20Integrity%20Booklet2.htm

DoNUt and Library Training.  This seminar is designed with the assumption that you will have completed both the orientation to the Drew Computing environment (DoNUT) and the orientation to basic use of the Drew Library, both of which are a part of the Common Hour, within the first four weeks of the semester.