CSMN4010: Self Knowledge

Semester: Spring 2010
Credits: 10
Level: Advanced course at master's level
Language of instruction: English
Examination: Essay of approx. 10 pages.
More official information about the course at: http://www.uio.no/studier/emner/hf/ifikk/CSMN4010/

Time and Place: Wednesday 16:15 -18:00, Seminarrom 2 P.A. Munchs hus;
with two sessions on Monday 22/3 & 26/4, 16:45-18:30 Seminarrom 4 P.A. Munchs hus.

Course Content
In this course we investigate the epistemology of self-knowledge, and examine current research on the nature and significance of the distinctive ways in which one knows about the contents of one’s own mind. We seem to be epistemically authoritative about what we are experiencing, thinking and doing, and need not rely on empirical observations of ourselves or inference to know about them, as other people do. What explains this fact, and what do the special characteristics of first-person epistemic access tell us about the nature of mental states and actions? We critically examine some of the most influential answers to these questions in the contemporary literature.

The topics of the course will be further discussed, by many of the authors we study, at the conference Self-Knowledge and Rationality Agency to be held in Oslo on 9-11 June, 2010. Students are encouraged to participate in the conference. (Though it is not a formal part of the course and attendance is not mandatory.)

Syllabus

Date	Lecturer	Topic	Required Readings⁺
10 February	Timothy Chan	Introduction (1): Puzzles of Self-Knowledge	Gertler, ‘Self-Knowledge’.
17 February	Timothy Chan	Introduction (2): Accounts of Self-Knowledge	Cassam, ’Introduction’ to Self Knowledge. Moran, Authority and Estrangement, Ch 1
24 February	Anders Nes	Perception & Sensation (1): Neo-Lockean Accounts	Armstrong, ‘Consciousness & Causality’, Sec.s 1-2. Shoemaker, “Self-Knowledge and 'Inner Sense', Lecture I”.
3 March	Anders Nes	Perception (2): Transparency and the Dunlap/Dretske problem	Dretske, ‘How Do you Know You are Not a Zombie?’. Harman, ‘The Intrinsic Quality of Experience.’
10 March	Timothy Chan	Perception (3): Externalism & Self-Knowledge	Burge, ‘Individualism and Self-Knowledge’. Boghossian, ‘Content and Self-Knowledge’.
17 March	Timothy Chan	Thought (1): Higher-order Thought Theories	Armstrong, A Materialist Theory of Mind, Ch 15. Rosenthal, ‘Introspection and Self-Interpretation’.
22 March Monday 16:45-18:30	Timothy Chan	Thought (2): Expressivism	Bar-On, Speaking My Mind, Ch. 1 & 9.
24 March	Timothy Chan	Thought (3): Constitutive Accounts	Shoemaker, ‘First-Person Access’. Siewert, ‘Self-Knowledge and Rationality’.
26 April Monday 16:45-18:30	Timothy Chan	Thought (4): Rationality Accounts	Gallois, The Mind Within, The World Without, Ch. 3 Moran, Authority and Estrangement, Ch. 3.1 & 4
28 April	Anders Nes	Action (1): Knowledge of Action without Observation	Anscombe, Intention, §§1, 5-8. Donnellan, ‘Knowing What I am Doing’. Falvey, ‘Knowledge in Intention’.
5 May	Timothy Chan	Action (2): Deliberation and Self-Knowledge	Moran, R. “Anscombe on 'Practical Knowledge’”. Owens, ‘Deliberation and the First Person’.
12 May	Timothy Chan	Concluding Review	-

Note: + See Reading List for bibliographical details.

Organizer

Timothy Chan

E-mail: t.h.w.chan@ifikk.uio.no
Web: http://www.csmn.uio.no/homepages/timothy-chan/

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