Philosophical debates about the idea of human nature and the influential models of human nature in Indic and Western traditions form the core component of this course. Fundamental questions the course looks at include what is mind and how it is distinct from the brain, and can we identify a single human essence. These are some of the foundational issues explored in Mind and Behaviour from the perspective of both philosophy, psychology and science.
Department: Philosophy | Semester: Monsoon 2023
What kind of creature are you? A human being, no doubt. But what kind of creature is that? How should such a creature live? We will critically explore influential models of human nature in the Indic and Western philosophical traditions and their profound implications both for how we ought to live and our place in the social world. Readings include selections from the Upanishads, Vasisṭḥa’s Yoga, Plato, Aristotle, Hume, Freud, Mill, Railton, Śāntideva, Korsgaard, Foot, O’Neill, Frye, Haidt, Milgram, Hobbes, Rawls, Bilgrami and others.
Department: Psychology | Semester: Monsoon 2023
This course will introduce you to questions of mind and behaviour and their relationship to the brain and body, and will encourage you to think critically and scientifically through your own ideas around these relationships. In this course we will try to understand ourselves, the people and animals around us, and all the ways in which our interactions produce learning. Every conversation, every memory, even your reading of this course outline, structurally and functionally changes your brain, but not everything that the brain processes seems to make it to the realm of conscious perception. We will think about various seemingly intangible aspects of the mind and try to imagine how to make sense of them.
Watch Video
Department: Philosophy | Semester: Monsoon 2023
Is the essential nature of the mind its capacity to reason, to behave in certain ways, to feel, to grasp certain aspects of the world? This course explores the nature of the human mind and what it can tell us about ourselves and our place in the world. We will consider whether the operations of human minds are fundamentally different from those of animals and from various forms of artificial intelligence, whether the mind is identical with physical or brain processes or instead is something else over and above the material world, whether our minds enable us to make choices that are truly free or rather only to channel the influential forces in our environment, and what the nature of our minds implies about how we should live and treat each other.
Faculty Name: William McDonald
Department: Philosophy | Semester: Monsoon 2023 and Spring 2024
Who were we? Who are we? Who will we become? This course examines texts on human nature and human identity from the oldest extant written literature (The Epic of Gilgamesh), through texts on personal, collective and gender identities, to speculations on post-human being. We will also investigate the ethical question of how we should live, based on the sort of beings we are. This ethical question will require exploration of some theories of ethics with a special focus on virtue ethics. The texts are drawn from European, Indian, Near Eastern, Central Asian and Indigenous Australian cultures.
Is there something special about human minds or can our conscious experience be explained by physics just like the rest of the universe? And if so, what is the nature of our beliefs, emotions, and other mental states? What about morality – is it a feature of the world as well, or maybe just a useful fiction we have created? We will explore these questions through (mostly) contemporary philosophical writings. We will also develop essential skills such as reading complex academic texts and reconstructing their core arguments, constructively discussing these issues and giving feedback on another student’s ideas, and expressing philosophical ideas in structured, concise, and linear pieces of writing.
Faculty Name: Mohammad Saeedimehr (Visiting)
Department: Philosophy | Semester: Monsoon 2023
As human beings, we have the intrinsic desire to gain knowledge not only about the external world but also about the internal world i.e., ourselves. On a par with the external world, the inner world of the self is so complicated and multidimensional that can, and indeed should, be studied by diverse branches of philosophy and science. Among other scholars, philosophers have always been tackling puzzlements about the nature of the human self. Some of the fundamental philosophical questions include: what is the nature of the mind and the mental states? What is the relation between mind and body? How can we best understand certain human phenomena like consciousness, intentionality, rationality and personhood? How can we understand and explain mental causation? Are we really free in at least some of our actions? How can we be justified in believing in other minds? … In this course, we shall explore such problems and examine the main philosophical theories offered as solutions. Though we will occasionally discuss ancient, medieval and modern views, our focus will be on the views of contemporary analytic philosophers. By the end of our intellectual journey, I expect you to get familiar with some of the mysteries of our “inner world” and become strongly encouraged to enhance your relevant knowledge in future.
saran@ashoka.edu.in
