Second Paper Assignment

Philosophy of Mind

Prof. McCormick

What Shall We Make of Philosophical Zombies?

          In "Consciousness and Its Place in Nature", (pages 247-272 in our book) David Chalmers argues against several positions concerning the so-called hard problem of consciousness.  In his paper, "Facing Backwards on the Problem of Consciousness," here:  http://ase.tufts.edu/cogstud/papers/chalmers.htm  and his paper "Quining Qualia,"  (pages 226-246 in our book) Daniel Dennett offers a counter argument to Chalmers' position. 

            First, according to the scheme of different positions that Chalmers lays out, what sort of position is Dennett adopting?  Explain the central theses of that position with regard to the question of zombies.  What is the argument for positions like Dennett's as Chalmers characterizes it?  What is wrong with Dennett's argument and arguments of that type, according to Chalmers? 

            Second, what is Dennett's response to Chalmers' attack on his position?  Explain the objections that Dennett offers to Chalmers' zombie argument. 

            Third, state and defend a clear thesis of your own about this debate.  On your view, who has the better argument?  Why?  Do your best to resolve the question one way or another. 

Your paper should be typed, double-spaced, and in a plain 12 point font.  It should be free of grammatical and spelling errors.  It should also reflect style and content improvements from the first paper in the course.  It is quite unlikely that someone could do an adequate job of addressing all of these issues in less than 4 pages. 

Your paper is due in class (do not submit it by email) on Tuesday, April 17th.  This paper is challenging and complex.  Get started early, revise and improve many drafts, and push yourself.

Some suggestions:

1)  Introduction:  your introductory paragraph(s) should contain no empty, filler sentences.  Every word is important and every word should make a substantial contribution towards addressing the assignment.  Sentences and points that are not relevant to the assignment do not belong in your paper. 

            Don't write your introduction first--write it after you have written and revised the body of your paper.  After you have written the body, you will know what arguments, what objections, and what argumentative thesis of your own you are introducing.

2)  Given the structure of this assignment, it would be natural to have at least two sections in the body of the paper:  1)  an exposition of the Chalmers/Dennett debate with careful, clear explanations of the claims they disagree on, and 2)  a critical evaluation section where you state and defend your assessment of the debate.

3)  Thesis sentences:  The paper as a whole should have a thesis that you are arguing for.  In this case, it will probably amount to your arguing in the end that either Dennett or Chalmers is correct concerning material explanations of consciousness.  That thesis and a brief statement of your reasons to adopting it should be stated clearly in the introduction.  It should be stated clearly and defended at length in the critical evaluation section, and it should be restated and the argument for it summarized briefly in the conclusion. 

            Every paragraph should also have a clear thesis sentence.  The rest of the sentences in that paragraph should all clearly relate to explaining, defending, and elaborating on that point.  So a reader should be able to skim through your paper, pick out the thesis sentence at the start of every paragraph and get a pretty clear idea what the paper is about and what it argues for. 

Carefully edit and revise your paper to meet all of these requirements.