Philosophy 370: Philosophy of Mind

Papers should be a minimum of 10 complete pages typewritten, double-spaced, numbered, and with no more than one inch margins. (Font and line-spacing manipulators beware!) There is no maximum length, but since I value precision and conciseness (see evaluation criteria below), unnecessary filler and verbose ramblings should be avoided. If you find yourself going over 16 pages, you might want to see if you can narrow your topic or come consult with me on whether what you have could be effectively pared down.

If you wish to get some feedback prior to the final grading of the paper, I will accept drafts, on or before , 5pm, Friday , April 7, for review and comments (the earlier in the semester you give me a draft, the better! You can even give me multiple drafts or pieces of drafts as long as they are all submitted before the deadline). Drafts submitted on April 7 will be available by Friday, April 14 for pick-up.

Final Version Due: Thursday, April 20th, by the beginning of class.

Submission via email attachment is acceptable. Late papers will be penalized.

Topics:

Any topic related to the course is acceptable, but the paper must be both a position paper and a problem paper. By this , I mean that the author takes and defends a clear position on the particular problem that has been chosen. Papers that are mere outlays of various possibilities are unacceptable.

If you want to discuss potential paper topics with me, please do not hesitate to come talk to me.   If you want to discuss your ongoing work on your topic with me, I will be happy to oblige.

Organization:

Your paper must have an introductory section that includes (i) a statement of the problem and its significance and (ii) a 'road map' of how your paper will proceed. In the body of your paper you should do what you say you will do in your 'road map' paragraph. You must also have a concluding section in which you briefly reiterate the main contention of your paper and the reasons for it. Finally, your paper should have a bibliography.

Your paper must be an argument for a particular position. There must be something statable that you are arguing for and you must give reasons for believing this claim. You must also anticipate and meet obvious objections to your claims.

Any use of outside works in your final paper must be properly cited and included in your bibliography. (The more recent the works you read and cite, the better.) An excellent tool for searching for relevant material is The Philosophers' Index, which is one of the Online Databases available through the Library webpage. A more specific philosophy of mind bibliography can be found at http://consc.net/biblio.html.

Evaluation criteria (in no particular order) include:

--Is the paper clearly, cogently, and concisely written? Are the author's claims precise? Does the paper have an explicit overall direction? Does the paper have a clear, accurate, and informative introduction and conclusion? Would the paper be intelligible to another student at this level who is interested in the topic, but not enrolled in the course?
--To what extent has the author identified the assumptions or presuppositions underlying his or her position? And to what extent is he or she aware of the possible difficulties with them?
--Are the author's claims and positions accompanied by cogent arguments? Are the author's claims adequately justified? Are claims and arguments provided in different parts of the paper consistent with each other?
--Has the author been fairly thorough? Can the reader think of some fairly obvious objection to the author's position already raised in class or in the readings that the author has not anticipated nor addressed?
--Does the paper legitimately satisfy the length requirement? Does the meaningful and relevant content of the paper satisfy the length requirement?

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