David Chalmers
E-mail: chalmers at nyu dot edu
Course website: http://consc.net/classes/mm2021.html
Class meetings: Tuesday/Thursday 2-3:15pm, 5 Washington Place 101
Office hours: Tuesday 3:30-5pm (5 Washington Place, 506)
Teaching Assistants: Noga Gratvol, Bar Luzon, Stephan Pohl
Overview
This course will be an introduction to some central issues in philosophy through the lens of modern technology. We will consider issues such as "How do we know about the external world?", "What is the relationship between mind and body?", "What do we really value?", and "Can machines be conscious?" in part by thinking hard about technologies such as virtual reality, smartphones, the Internet, and artificial intelligence. The course will especially focus on virtual reality and computer simulations as a tool for thinking about philosophical questions.
The course will be divided into three broad parts:
1. Reality: Virtual reality and the external world
2. Minds: Consciousness and the mind-body problem
3. Machines: Artificial intelligence
Texts
The textbook is my forthcoming book Reality+: Virtual Worlds and the Problems of Philosophy (to be published by W.W. Norton in January 2022). This text will be made available over NYU Brightspace. All other readings are available on the web. If you have trouble finding any reading, or to find related readings, try searching PhilPapers.
Some books that you might find useful as supplementary reading:
Assessment
There will be three papers of 4-6 pages each (one for each of the three parts of the course, due October 8, November 12, and December 15) and a final exam (Tuesday December 21, 2-3:50pm), weighted just under 25% each. Some small weight around the margins will also be given to class participation and to attendance at recitations, with occasional quizzes playing a role.
Over the course of the semester, each student may request up to two one-day extensions or one two-day extension (in total) for the papers. As long as such a request is made by the deadline (email your TA), it will be automatically granted. Any other extensions will be approved only under special circumstances. Late papers will be penalized one grade step [e.g. A to A-] for 1-3 days late, two steps for 4-7 days late, one full grade [e.g. A to B] for 1-2 weeks late, no papers accepted after that.
No incompletes will be given, except for very good medical reasons. If you have special needs, let me know soon.
Attendance at discussion section is required; if you miss more than two meetings, your grade will suffer. Plagiarism will lead to automatic failure and report.
Class practices.
Please arrive on time and don't pack up before the end (I'll try to end on time!). It's OK to use laptops in the classroom for class purposes, but don't use smartphones except in emergencies. I encourage everyone to take part in class discussion, in a balanced way in which no individual dominates. Please pay attention to these guidelines for respectful discussion in philosophy.
Tips on doing philosophy
Here are some very useful resources on how to write philosophy papers, and about doing philosophy more generally. Read these carefully!
Schedule
Here is a very approximate week-by-week plan for the course, with associated readings. Note that this is very likely to be revised as things develop, and further readings will be added. Starred readings are the main/key readings.
INTRODUCTION
Meeting 1 (September 2): Welcome
*Reality+, Introduction
Meeting 2 (September 7): Philosophical Questions
*Reality+, Chapter 1
Plato's Allegory of the Cave, from The Republic
PART 1: REALITY
Meeting 3 (September 9): Skepticism and The Simulation Hypothesis
*Reality+, Chapter 2 (and some of Chapter 3: pp. 43-46, 55-58)
Jennifer Nagel, The problem of skepticism
John Pollock, Brain in a Vat
Andrew Skegg, Are you a brain in a vat? (video)
Meeting 4 (September 14): Descartes on Knowledge and Skepticism
*Reality+, Chapter 3
*Rene Descartes, First and Second Meditations
Christia Mercer, Descartes' debt to Teresa of Avila, or why we should work on women in the history of philosophy
Andrew Chapman, External-world skepticism
Ned Markosian, Do you know you are not a brain in a vat?
Eric Schwitzgebel, 1% skepticism
Meeting 5 (September 16): Replies to Skepticism
*Reality+, Chapter 4
*Berkeley, Principles of Human Knowledge (paragraphs 1-23 required).
*G.E. Moore, Proof of an External World
Meeting 6 (September 21): The Simulation Argument
*Reality+, Chapter 5
*Nick Bostrom, The Simulation Argument: Why the Probability that You are Living in a Matrix is quite high (also here.
Nick Bostrom, Are you living in a computer simulation?
Dennis Overbye, Big brain theory: Have cosmologists' lost theirs?
Videos on the simulation hypothesis: Is reality real?, Asimov Memorial Debate, StarTalk, Fox5
Video: Are you a Boltzmann brain?
Meeting 7 (September 23): God and Simulation
*Reality+, Chapter 7
Stacy Transacos, What if we lived in a simulated universe and worshipped a teenager?
Eric Steinhardt, Theological implications of the simulation argument
George Dvorsky, The Seven Most Intriguing Philosophical Arguments for the Existence of God
Stanislaw Lem, Non Serviam
Meeting 8 (September 28): Metaphysics and It-From-Bit
*Reality+, Chapter 8
Rachel Thomas, It from bit?
Meeting 9 (September 30): Reality
*Reality+, Chapter 6
Philip K. Dick, How to build a universe that doesn't fall apart two days later
O.K. Bouwsma, Descartes' evil genius
Is reality real? (video)
Meeting 10 (October 5): Simulation as Reality
*Reality+, Chapter 9
David Chalmers, The Matrix as Metaphysics (bonus: "The structuralist response to skepticism" has a more technical treatment)
Jennifer Nagel, New responses to skepticism
Meeting 11 (Oct 7): Virtual Reality
*Reality+, Chapters 10 and 11
David Velleman, Virtual Selves
David Chalmers, The virtual and the real (pp. 1-21)
Meeting 12 (Oct 14): Value and the Experience Machine
*Reality+, Chapter 17
*Robert Nozick, The Experience Machine
*David Chalmers, The virtual and the real (pp. 24-30)
Jim Pryor, What's so bad about living in the matrix?
Meeting 13 (Oct 19): Ethics and the Trolley Problem
*Reality+, Chapters 18
Judith Jarvis Thomson, The trolley problem
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Act and rule utilitarianism
Videos: Would you opt for a life with no pain?, Hedonism and the experience machine.
The trolley dilemma: Would you kill one person to save five?
Michael Madary and Thomas Metzinger, Real Virtuality: A Code of Ethical Conduct. Recommendations for Good Scientific Practice and the Consumers of VR Technology
Part 2: MINDS
Meeting 14 (Oct 21): The Mind/Body Problem
*Reality+, Chapter 14
*Princess Elisabeth and Rene Descartes, Correspondence
Raymond Smullyan, An Unfortunate Dualist
Brie Gertler, In defense of mind-body dualism
Meeting 15 (Oct 26): Dualism and the Interaction Problem
*Reality+, Chapter 14
Meeting 16 (Oct 28): Materialism
*J.J.C. Smart, Sensations and Brain Processes
Hilary Putnam, The Nature of Mental States
Janet Levin, Functionalism
Ned Block, Troubles with Functionalism (esp. pp. 279-81)
Meeting 17 (Nov 2): Consciousness
*Reality+, Chapter 15
David Chalmers, How do you explain consciousness? (TED talk)
David Chalmers, The Puzzle of Conscious Experience (also more in-depth version)
Meeting 18 (Nov 4): Consciousness: Materialism, Dualism
*Frank Jackson, Epiphenomenal qualia
Videos: What Mary didn't know (Dorian Electra), Sensual (Dorian Electra), Mary the Super Scientist (Galen Strawson)
Meeting 19 (Nov 9): Consciousness: Illusionism, Panpsychism
Illusionism:
Daniel Dennett, Facing backwards on the problem of consciousness
Patricia Churchland, The hornswoggle problem
Keith Frankish, Illusionism as a theory of consciousness
David Chalmers, The meta-problem of consciousness
Panpsychism:
*Hedda Hassel Morch, Is matter conscious?
Galen Strawson, Why physicalism entails panpsychism
David Chalmers, Panpsychism and panprotopsychism (also The combination problem for panpsychism)
Christof Koch, Tononi's "complex" theory of consciousness
Scott Aaronson, Why I am not an Integrated Information Theorist
Meeting 20 (Nov 11): The Extended Mind
*Reality+, Chapter 16
*Andy Clark and David Chalmers, The Extended Mind
Meeting 21 (Nov 16): Technology and the Extended Mind
David Chalmers, Is Your Phone Part of your Mind? (TED talk)
Nicholas Carr, Is Google Making Us Stupid?
Michael Coulter, Is technology eating our brains?
Michael Lynch, How the Internet promotes a new way of knowing (plus video)
Part 3: MACHINES
Meeting 22 (Nov 18): AI and the Turing Test
Bisson, They're made of meat!
*Alan Turing, Computing Machinery and Intelligence
The Turing Test (encyclopedia article)
Meeting 23 (Nov 23): Review/TBD
Meeting 24 (Nov 30): The Turing Test and the Chinese Room
*John Searle, Minds, brains, and programs
Terrel Miedaner, The Soul of Martha, a Beast, and The Soul of the Mark III Beast
Meeting 25 (Dec 2): The Singularity
*David Chalmers, The Singularity: A Philosophical Analysis (sections 1-4)
Susan Schneider, Future minds: Transhumanism, cognitive enhancement, and the future of persons
Meeting 26 (Dec 7): AI Safety and AI Ethics
*Nick Bostrom and Eliezer Yudkowsky, The ethics of artificial intelligence
*Reality+, Chapter 18
Chalmers, The Singularity (sections 5-7)
Meeting 27 (Dec 9): Mind Uploading
*David Chalmers, Mind Uploading: A Philosophical Analysis
Greg Egan, Learning to be Me
Susan Schneider and Joe Corabi, The Metaphysics of Uploading
Can you upload your mind and live forever?
Meeting 28 (Dec 14): Mind Uploading and Personal Identity
Daniel Dennett, Where am I? (video version)
*Daniel Dennett, Where am I? (written version)
Bonus materials: Movies, etc.
[On each topic, listed roughly in order of philosophical engagement and relevance.]
Reality: *The Matrix, *Free Guy, *Black Mirror (San Junipero, Hang the DJ, USS Callister, White Christmas, ...), Existenz, The Truman Show, Inception, Rick and Morty (The Ricks Must Be Crazy), Maniac, Lawnmower Man, The Thirteenth Floor, Total Recall
Minds: *Being John Malkovich, *Memento, Dark City, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Prestige, The Hard Problem (play), Ghost in the Shell, The Man with Two Brains.
Machines: *Ex Machina, *Her, *Westworld, Star Trek (The Measure of a Man), Blade Runner, Black Mirror (Be Right Back), Humans, Terminator, Transcendence, 2001, I, Robot