COG 401 H1: Seminar in Cognitive Science
Conceptual Foundations for the Science of Consciousness
Meeting Times: Mondays 2-5 pm
Location: UC 85
Instructor: Sean M. Smith
Contact: sean.smith@mail.utoronto.ca or (647) 907 5611
NOTE: E-mails should concern procedural questions about the course only. Philosophical questions
will be addressed in class and during office hours. Emails must be sent from a utoronto account.
Office Hours: Mondays 10 am - 11 pm in JHB 419 or by appointment.1 During the actual office
hour I will stay as late as need be to deal with everyone's questions, even if people are unable to
arrive until close to the end of the hour. I humbly request that students do not abuse my goodwill in
this regard. Also, students should not hesitate to make an appointment if they are unable to come to
office hours. We will find time to meet and discuss any issues.
Course Description:
This course will be an intensive seminar on the question of whether or not it is possible to have a
scientific understanding of the nature of phenomenal consciousness. We will begin with an overview
of the 'hard problem' of consciousness. We will then explore different ways that theorists have tried
to address this problem both from the perspectives of empirical science (specifically, the cognitive
and affective neurosciences, developmental psychology and to a certain extent, evolutionary biology),
as well as philosophically (both reductively and non-reductively). We will examine several extant
theories and think about the methodological presuppositions that animate many of them. Some of
the topics addressed will include: the metaphysics of consciousness; global workspace theories;
eliminativism; higher-order theories; neural correlates of consciousness; attention, awareness, and
overflow; neurophenomenology; the cognitive and affective neuroscience of consciousness;
developmental psychology; evolutionary biology; and cross-cultural perspectives on the nature of
consciousness.
Texts: All course readings are available on blackboard in pdf format.
Course Requirements:
Assignment
% of Final Grade
Due Date
Return Date
1. Short Paper (4-6 pp)
15%
Oct. 12
Oct. 26
2. Long Paper proposal (2-3 pp + bibliography)
10%
Nov. 2
Nov. 162
The location for office hours will change to a location in University College once some administrative backlogs clear.
Note: There is no class on Nov. 9 because of the Fall break. However, I will have these papers graded by then and
strongly recommend that everyone come to see me before the 'official' return date so that there is at least a full month
for you to work on the final paper before submitting. I strongly advise people to submit this plan as early as possible
so that there is maximal time to work on the term paper before it is due.
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3. Long Paper (12-15 pp.)
45%
Dec. 7
Dec. 18
4. Presentation
10%
Various
A week later
5. Class Participation
10%
N/A
6. Poster
10%
TBD (see below)
Assignment Details:
1. Short Paper (4-6 pp):
The purpose of this paper is to engage critically with one of the texts from the class. Pick an
argument from one of the papers we consider. Provide a page or so of exegesis, explaining the
relevant details of the argument and the dialectical context. Spend another page or so outlining an
objection or a problem. With the remaining pages consider possible responses and try to arrive at a
conclusion that has a positive orientation. How this last bit goes will depend on whether you are
sympathetic with the argument you have chosen or whether you think it's ultimately wrong-headed.
NOTE: The last day you can drop this course without academic penalty is Sunday Nov. 8. You will
have your first assignment back well in advance of that deadline so that you can decide whether or
not you wish to stay in the course.
2. Long Paper Proposal (2-3 pp + bibliography):
You should be thinking about the final paper from the first class. The purpose of this assignment is
for you to provide me with some indication of what you want to do for the final paper. Part of this
assignment will involve you coming to see me in office hours to talk about what you're wanting to do
with the final paper. For the assignment itself, you're going to want to write a page or so introducing
the general shape of the paper. Then provide me with another page(-ish) of detailed outline about
how the paper will be structured. Finally, you'll need to include a page (more is fine as well) of
sources you plan to look at. This will involve you reading outside of the syllabus. Plan accordingly.
3. Long Paper (12-15 pp.):
This is the major assignment for the course. This paper should engage with both philosophical and
empirical literature. It should be argumentative and philosophically sophisticated. You need to
articulate and defend a substantial thesis. Consider objections and reply to them and then think what
an intelligent objector would say in response to your reply. Also, when you submit this paper specify
if you want comments.
4. Presentation:
Each class will be divided roughly in two, with the first 60-120 minutes being an intensive lecture by
the instructor that provides context and focus to the relevant sections of the readings. In the
remaining time, students will present in pairs. This presentation will last about 15 minutes or so.
Students will present an outline of some of the material covered in that class and raise questions and
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concerns. We will then have a focused discussion with everyone. I will make my handouts available
to each presenting group in advance of the actual class so that they have an idea of what I plan to
cover for the first half of the class. This will avoid overlap.
5. Class Participation:
It is expected that everyone will participate in the discussion throughout the duration of any given
class, regardless of whether they are giving a presentation that day. My expectation is that for all
classes that every student will have at least one question, concern or objection based on their reading
of the text and be prepared, if called upon, to share that question, concern or objection with the class.
This could be as simple as a disambiguation question ('What does this passage mean?'), to an
objection to a given argument.
6. Poster:
There are two fourth-year cognitive science seminars running during the fall term. Within a window
of five days or so, leading up to Dec. 8, there will be a poster session with all the students of both
courses. Students will assemble into groups of (around) 4 and present a poster which attempts to
integrate some of the various disciplines that are operative in our discussions of consciousness. More
specifically, students should choose a topic covered in the course and think about how various
disciplines approach the topic. The posters should focus on points of conceptual convergence and
methodological assumptions and take a critical approach. In addition to participating in the actual
poster session, students will submit an electronic copy of their poster to the email address included
above.
NOTE 1: If there are any questions about these assignments, come see me in office hours.
NOTE 2: Written assignments should be submitted in hard copy in class. They should be doublesided (i.e. print on both sides of the paper). Put all identifying information on the top right corner of
the first page. Write double-spaced in a 12 pt. font. Do not include a title page.
Course Organization:
All readings are available as pdfs on the portal website for this course. If you are auditing and need
access, email me your utorid and I will add you as a guest so that you can access the files.
Students are expected to attend all classes. If a student expects to miss more than two classes, they
should provide medical documentation such that their participation grade does not suffer.
Everyone is expected to do the assigned readings prior to class, and to come ready to discuss them.
Readings and Schedule:
Class 1 - Sept. 14: What is consciousness?
Nagel, T. (1974) "What is it like to be a bat?" in The Philosophical Review, Vol. 83, No. 4; 435-50.
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Block, N. (1995) "On a confusion about a function of consciousness' in Brain and Behavioral
Sciences, 18; 227-87.
Kriegel, U. (2009) "Conceptual Preliminaries", Chapter 2 of Subjective Consciousness: A SelfRepresentational Theory. New York: Oxford UP.
Class 2 - Sept. 21: Neuro-scientific theories of consciousness
Crick, F. and Koch, C. (1990) "Towards a neurobiological theory of consciousness" in Seminars in
The Neurosciences, Vol. 2; 263-75
Baars, B. (2005) "Global workspace theory of consciousness: toward a cognitive neuroscience of
human experience?" in Progress in Brain Research, Vol. 150; 45-53
McGovern, K. and Baars, B. (2007) "Cognitive Theories of Consciousness" in Cambridge
Handbook of Consciousness. (Eds.) Zelazo, P.D., M. Moscovitch and E. Thompson. New
York: Cambridge UP.
Chalmers, D.J. (2010) "How can we construct a science of consciousness?" chapter 2 of The
Character of Consciousness. New York: Oxford UP.
Class 3 - Sept. 28: Eliminativism (I + II)
I. Qualia
Churchland, P.M. (1985) "Reduction, qualia and the direct introspection of brain states" in Journal
of Philosophy, Vol. 82, No. 1; 8-28.
Jackson, F. (1986) "What Mary didn't know" in Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 83, No. 5; 291-5, reply to
Churchland (1985).
Churchland, P.M. (1989) "Knowing qualia: a reply to Jackson" in A Neurocomputational
Perspective. Cambridge: MIT Press.
II. Phenomenological Method
Dennett, D. (1991) "A Method for Phenomenology", chapter 4 of Consciousness Explained. New
York: Little Brown & Co.
Zahavi, D (2007) "Killing the strawman: Dennett and phenomenology" in Phenomenology and
Cognitive Science, 6; 21-43.3
Class 4 - Oct. 5: Higher-order and self-representational theories
Carruthers, P. (2011) "Higher-Order Theories of Consciousness" in Stanford Encyclopedia of
Philosophy, Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL
= <http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2011/entries/consciousness-higher/>
Seager, W. (2004) "A Cold look at HOT Theory" in (ed.) Rocco J. Gennaro, Higher-Order Theories of
Consciousness: An Anthology. Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Co.
Kriegel, U. (2009) "Self-represenationalism and phenomenology" in Philosophical Studies, 143: 35781.
This article is one of many critical essays from a special issue of the journal devoted to Dennett's account of
heterophenomenology, which includes a response from Dennett.
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NO CLASS on Oct. 12
Class 5 - Oct. 19: Neural correlates of consciousness I
Chalmers, D.J. (2010) "What is a neural correlate of consciousness?" chapter 3 of The
Character of Consciousness. New York: Oxford UP.
Chalmers, D.J. (2010) "On the search for the neural correlate of consciousness" chapter 4 of The
Character of Consciousness. New York: Oxford UP.
Noe, A. and Thompson, E. (2004) "Are there neural correlates of consciousness?" in Journal of
Consciousness Studies, Vol 11, No. 1; 3-28.
Class 6 - Oct. 26: Neural Correlates of Consciousness II
Various Authors (2004) "Peer commentary on 'Are there neural correlates of consciousness'" in
Journal of Consciousness Studies, Vol 11, No. 1; 29-86
Noe, A. and Thompson E. (2004) "Sorting out the neural basis of consciousness" in Journal of
Consciousness Studies, Vol 11, No. 1; 87-98.
Class 7 - Nov. 2: Neurophenomenology
Varela, F.J. (1996) "Neurophenomenology: A methodological remedy for the hard-problem" in
Journal of Consciousness Studies, Vol. 3, No. 4; 330-49.
Thompson, E. (2007) "Temporality and the Living Present" chapter 11 of Mind and Life: Biology,
Phenomenology and the Sciences of Mind. Cambridge: Harvard UP.
Bayne, T. (2004) "Closing the Gap? Some Questions for Neurophenomenology" in Phenomenology
and the Cognitive Sciences, Vol. 3; 349-64.
Fazelpour, S. and Thompson, E. (2015) "The Kantian brain: brain dynamics from a
neurophenomenological perspective" in Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 31; 223-9.
NO CLASS on Nov. 9
Class 8 - Nov. 16: Attention, Cognitive Access and Phenomenal Overflow4
Block, N. (2007) "Consciousness, accessibility, and the mesh between psychology and
neuroscience" in Brain and Behavioral Sciences, 30; 481-548.
Cohen, M.A. and Dennett, D.C. (2011) "Consciousness cannot be separated from function" in Trends
in Cognitive Sciences, Vol. 15, No. 8: 358-64.
Shewman, D.A., Holmes, G.L. and Byrne, P.A. "Consciousness in congenitally decorticate children:
developmental vegetative state as self-fulfilling prophecy" in Developmental Medicine and
Child Neurology, 41: 364-74
Bayne, T. (2013) "Agency as a Marker of Consciousness" in (eds.) Clark, A., Kiverstein, J. and
Vierkant, T., Decomposing the Will. New York: Oxford UP.5
I have written a paper on this topic. My lecture for this class will be based on some things I say there. If you would
like a copy, please email me.
5 This can be found through the University's Library webpage. I could not save the file, but it is printable from there.
You will need to login to access it.
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Class 9 - Nov. 23: Primitive Consciousness I: Homeostasis
Cook, N.D., Carvalho, G.B. and Damasio, A. (2014) "From membrane excitability to metazoan
psychology" in Trends in Neurosciences, Vol. 37, No. 12; 698-705.
Damasio, A. and Gil B Carvalho (2013) "The nature of feelings: evolutionary and neurobiological
origins" in Nature Reviews Neuroscience Vol. 14: 143-152.
Rudraum, D. and Damasio, A. (2005) "A Conjecture Regarding the Biological Mechanism of
Subjectivity and Feeling" in Journal of Consciousness Studies, Vol. 12, No. 8-10; 236-62
Thompson, E. (2007) "Life beyond the Gap" chapter 8 of Mind and Life: Biology, Phenomenology
and the Sciences of Mind. Cambridge: Harvard UP.
Class 10 - Nov. 30: Primitive Consciousness II: Emotion and Affective Neuroscience
Panksepp, J. and Biven, L. (2012) "Ancestral Passions" and "Towards a Neurobiology of the Soul"
chapters 1 and 11 of The Archaeology of Mind: Neuroevolutionary Origins of Human
Emotions. New York: Norton.
Dickinson, A. and Balleine, B (2010) "Hedonics: The Cognitive-Emotional Interface" in (eds.)
Kringelbach, M.L. and Berridge, K.C., Pleasures of the Brain. New York: Oxford UP.
Class 11 - Dec. 7: Developmental Psychology
Zelazo, P.D. (1996) "Towards a Characterization of Minimal Consciousness" in New Ideas in
Psychology, Vol. 14, No. 1; 63-80.
Zelazo, P.D., H.H. Gao and R. Todd (2007) "The Development of Consciousness" in Cambridge
Handbook of Consciousness. (Eds.) Zelazo, P.D., M. Moscovitch and E. Thompson. New
York: Cambridge UP.
Rochat, P. (2011) "What is it like to be a newborn?" in The Oxford Handbook of The Self. (ed.) Shaun
Gallagher. New York: Oxford UP.
Class 12 - Dec. 9 (Time and location TBD): A Cross-Cultural Cognitive Science of Consciousness?
Davis, J. and Thompson, E. (2013) "From the Five Aggregates to Phenomenal Consciousness" in
(ed.) Steven M. Emmanuel, A Companion to Buddhist Philosophy. Oxford: Blackwell
Publishing.
Davis, J. and Thompson, E. (2015) “Developing Attention and Decreasing Affective Bias: Toward a
Cross-Cultural Cognitive Science of Mindfulness,” in K.W. Brown, J.D. Creswell, and R.M.
Ryan, eds., Handbook of Mindfulness. New York: Guilford Press.
Todd, R.M. et al. (2015) "Soldiers with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder See a World Full of Threat:
Magnetocencephalography Reveals Enhanced Tuning to Combat-Related Cues" in Society
of Biological Psychiatry.6
I am having trouble finding a steady pdf of this online. I will upload it when I do, or failing that, provide printouts
for everyone a week in advance of our discussion.
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Course Policies:
A. Late Assignments: Assignments will be reduced 1/3 a letter grade for each day that they are late.
Extensions may be granted if extraordinary circumstances are documented, but students should contact
the instructors to request extensions before the due date.
B. Contact Policy: The instructor will be available to answer questions at weekly office hours and by
appointment. Blackboard will be used to post announcements and readings; students are expected to
check it, and their university email accounts, regularly.
C. Absences. If students have a compelling medical or personal reason to miss a class, they should let the
instructors know and offer to provide documentation (an email from college registrar, or from
accessibility services, will often suffice). Since the course is a seminar and there is a substantial portion of
the grade dedicated to participation, students should not miss any class unless it is absolutely necessary.
D. Accessibility: If you require accommodations or have any accessibility concerns, feel free to contact
Accessibility Services at any time. Their address is: www.accessibility.utoronto.ca
The course instructors are happy to provide any accommodations needed to ensure that all materials and
activities are accessible to all students. It is the responsibility of students, however, to communicate their
needs to accessibility services so that accommodations can be organised in a timely and efficient manner.
E. Academic Integrity: Academic integrity is essential to the pursuit of learning and scholarship in a
university, and to ensuring that a degree from the University of Toronto is a strong signal of each
student’s individual academic achievement. As a result, the University treats cases of cheating and
plagiarism very seriously. The University of Toronto’s Code of Behaviour on Academic Matters
(http://www.governingcouncil.utoronto.ca/policies/behaveac.htm) outlines the behaviours that
constitute academic dishonesty and the processes for addressing academic offences.
All suspected cases of academic dishonesty will be investigated following procedures outlined in the Code
of Behaviour on Academic Matters. If you have questions or concerns about what constitutes appropriate
academic behaviour or appropriate research and citation methods, you are expected to seek out additional
information on academic integrity from your instructor or from other institutional resources (see
http://www.utoronto.ca/academicintegrity/
F. Mental Health: Academic work is difficult and psychologically demanding. It's important to work hard
and push yourself but it is even more important to be kind to yourself. The University has a number of
resources available if difficulties arise:
http://discover.utoronto.ca/health-wellness
http://life.utoronto.ca/get-help/counselling/
http://mentalhealth.utoronto.ca/
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