Università Roma Tre

The course will examine the topic of consciousness through the analysis of some classic and contemporary texts from the philosophical, psychological and neuroscientific literature. Problematic issues regarding the nature and function of consciousness will be investigated from an interdisciplinary perspective that interweaves philosophy, psychology and cognitive sciences.

Module A (6 CFUs)
The program of Module A will cover the following topics:
- Introduction to the historical-theoretical meanings of the notion of consciousness
- Exposition of some essays by William James regarding the philosophical problem of the "matter of mind" and of the nature and function of consciousness
- Exposition of Henri Bergson's theory of the immediate data of consciousness and the nature of temporality

Module B (6 CFU)
The program of Module B will cover the following topics:
- Exposition and analysis of Maurice Merleau-Ponty's philosophical investigation of the relationship between the structure of behavior and consciousness
- Exposition and analysis of Anil Seth's proposal on the relationship between consciousness and the brain.

Module A

Hermann Von Helmholtz, The Facts of Perception (1878) from Selected Writings of Hermann Helmholtz, Wesleyan University Press (available at: https://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/ge/helmholt.htm)
William James, Are We Automata?, in Essays in Psychology, edited by F.H. Burkhardt, F. Bowers, and I.K. Skrupskelis. Introductions by W.R. Woodward, Harvard University Press 1984.
William James, The Spatial Quale, in Essays in Psychology, edited by F.H. Burkhardt, F. Bowers, and I.K. Skrupskelis. Introductions by W.R. Woodward, Harvard University Press 1984.
William James, Principles of Psychology. edited by F.H. Burkhardt, F. Bowers, and I.K. Skrupskelis. Introductions by R.B. Evans and G.E. Myers, Harvard University Press 1890/1981, chapters VI and IX.
Michela Bella, Ontology after Philosophical Psychology. The Continuity of Consciousness in William James's Philosophy of Mind, Lexington 2019, pp. 1-59.

Recommended texts.

Horace Kallen William James and Henri Bergson: A Study in Contrasting Theories of Life, Createspace Independent Pub 1914


Module B

Maurice Merleau-Ponty, The Structure of Behavior, Duquesne University 1983
Anil Seth, Being You. A New Science of Consciousness, Dutton 2021

Recommended texts.

Emmanuel Alloa, Resistance of the Sensible World: An Introduction to Merleau-Ponty, Jane Todd (tr.), Fordham University Press, 2017