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Philosophy Of Mind: Brains, Consciousness And Thinking Machines
Nothing in the universe is more mysterious than the inner workings of the human mind. Do other people have a mind like yours and, if so, how do you know? Is your mind something distinct from your body, or do ordinary physiological processes produce minds? Can a machine have a mind? What is consciousness? Do you have free will? Is everything you are now experiencing actually happening, or is that an elaborate illusion created by the mind? The mind reels at such questions! But philosophy provides powerful tools for investigating the mysteries of thinking, feeling, and perceiving. What Is Your Mind? The attempt to understand consciousness is the ultimate imperative in philosophical thought and stems from the ancient Greek aphorism, "know thyself." A simple statement, it nevertheless has vast ramifications for how we understand not only ourselves, but also the people around us. History's most profound thinkers have spent their lives attempting to answer the deceptively simple question, "what is the mind?" including Aristotle in antiquity, René Descartes in the 17th century, and William James in the 19th century. Questions about the nature of the mind are among the most hotly debated in philosophy today. Today, we are beginning to see the true complexity of this pursuit, as philosophers draw on the latest evidence from neuroscience, psychology, artificial intelligence, linguistics, and other fields to probe still deeper into the inner workings of the mind. One of the most exciting research partnerships in recent decades has been the interdisciplinary study of the mind called cognitive science. It draws on neuroscience to chart how bundles of neurons create minds, psychology to illuminate how minds function, linguistics to explain how minds generate language, artificial intelligence to attempt to reproduce the output of our minds, and other fields to cover the big picture.
24 pages, Audio Cassette
Published July 8, 2013
17 people are currently reading
365 people want to read
About the author
Patrick Grim
73 books37 followersDr. Patrick Grim is Distinguished Teaching Professor of Philosophy at the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
He graduated with highest honors in anthropology and philosophy from the University of California, Santa Cruz. He was named a Fulbright Fellow to the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, from which he earned his B.Phil. He earned his Ph.D. from Boston University.
Professor Grim is the recipient of several honors and awards. In addition to being named SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor, Dr. Grim has been awarded the President and Chancellor’s awards for excellence in teaching and was elected to the Academy of Teachers and Scholars. The Weinberg Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Michigan in 2006, Professor Grim has also held visiting fellowships at the Center for Complex Systems at Michigan and at the Center for Philosophy of Science at the University of Pittsburgh.
Professor Grim, author of The Incomplete Universe: Totality, Knowledge, and Truth; coauthor of The Philosophical Computer: Exploratory Essays in Philosophical Computer Modeling; and editor of the forthcoming Mind and Consciousness: 5 Questions, is widely published in scholarly journals. He is the founder and coeditor of 25 volumes of The Philosopher’s Annual, an anthology of the best articles published in philosophy each year.
He graduated with highest honors in anthropology and philosophy from the University of California, Santa Cruz. He was named a Fulbright Fellow to the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, from which he earned his B.Phil. He earned his Ph.D. from Boston University.
Professor Grim is the recipient of several honors and awards. In addition to being named SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor, Dr. Grim has been awarded the President and Chancellor’s awards for excellence in teaching and was elected to the Academy of Teachers and Scholars. The Weinberg Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Michigan in 2006, Professor Grim has also held visiting fellowships at the Center for Complex Systems at Michigan and at the Center for Philosophy of Science at the University of Pittsburgh.
Professor Grim, author of The Incomplete Universe: Totality, Knowledge, and Truth; coauthor of The Philosophical Computer: Exploratory Essays in Philosophical Computer Modeling; and editor of the forthcoming Mind and Consciousness: 5 Questions, is widely published in scholarly journals. He is the founder and coeditor of 25 volumes of The Philosopher’s Annual, an anthology of the best articles published in philosophy each year.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews
August 5, 2015
If you like dualism, you will like this lecture series. If, like me, you think many of the arguments in support of dualism amount to pseudoscience founded upon truly bad logic, then the focus of this lecture series will annoy you, to a very large degree. There are extremely simple, and readily available, arguments that easily dispute the nonphysical nature of "mysterious" epiphenomenal aspects of subjective experience. Grim is quick to speak up when he feels an argument needs a critical eye. Unfortunately, he is not in possession of a critical eye when it is most needed.
If Mary, Frank Jackson's expert in neuroscience, gains something new through her subjective experience of seeing red, that does *not* in fact mean that science fails to capture that. If she gains something new from observation, than her observation is indeed part of the science of seeing red. Observation has long been part of scientific discovery. He is far too enamored with Jackson's argument (and similar arguments) to call up his ability to think critically. The logic was so bad. If he had said, (fill in philosopher's name) posits (fill in what they posit), then it would have been balanced. Instead, he doubts science, much like a creationist, and is in love with arguments that suffer from lack of logic.
As a cognitive neuroscience major, I took philosophy of mind. The course covered everything in this lecture. However, there was no attempt to indoctrinate the student. The professor was able to provide various arguments and critiques without becoming too invested in arguments that were easily destroyed by science. I truly hope this course is not representative of how courses are being taught at typical universities.
If Mary, Frank Jackson's expert in neuroscience, gains something new through her subjective experience of seeing red, that does *not* in fact mean that science fails to capture that. If she gains something new from observation, than her observation is indeed part of the science of seeing red. Observation has long been part of scientific discovery. He is far too enamored with Jackson's argument (and similar arguments) to call up his ability to think critically. The logic was so bad. If he had said, (fill in philosopher's name) posits (fill in what they posit), then it would have been balanced. Instead, he doubts science, much like a creationist, and is in love with arguments that suffer from lack of logic.
As a cognitive neuroscience major, I took philosophy of mind. The course covered everything in this lecture. However, there was no attempt to indoctrinate the student. The professor was able to provide various arguments and critiques without becoming too invested in arguments that were easily destroyed by science. I truly hope this course is not representative of how courses are being taught at typical universities.
February 19, 2018
‘I think, therefore I am’, it sounds so smart and dare I say erudite, but it is one of the least profitable ways to consider the human experience, and the lecturer will say the mind/body dichotomy is out of fashion today and Descartes’ cogito is a relic from the past. That doesn’t stop this lecturer from always seeming to frame the issues of the ‘philosophy of the mind’ in those terms within most of the lectures. That just strikes me as weird, but overall there are enough takeaways from this lecture to make it worth the one credit.
What do all of these items have in common? Mary and the black & white room; zombies; Penrose and his quantum consciousness with its pixie dust acting on the synapses; Searle and his Chinese room; Nagel and his inane question of what does a bat think; and other familiar often told elsewhere thought experiments. Answer: 1) they are all featured too prominently within these lectures and 2) I think they should be retired since they each border on the silly. Come on now, Zombies act and behave exactly like you do but have no subjective state what’s that really mean? That Chinese room, why make it Chinese in the first place?
I don’t really see consciousness as an un-crackable riddle. The functional perception paradigm is not necessarily the last way to think about the ‘Hard problem’ of consciousness as this lecture mostly focuses on. I think the author was out of his depth when it came to AI (and math and thinking machines). Not to overly criticize, but Alan Turing did not have the oversize role of breaking the Enigma code as he states; Bletchley Park had many, many moving parts which also was preceded by Polish mathematicians who broke the Enigma code first. It was interesting to hear how Hubert Dreyfus and Searle were wrong about AI and consciousness, and the syntax/semantic distinction stayed with me.
If one takes the good with the bad with this lecture, the listener will get a fairly entertaining exposure to an incredibly interesting topic.
What do all of these items have in common? Mary and the black & white room; zombies; Penrose and his quantum consciousness with its pixie dust acting on the synapses; Searle and his Chinese room; Nagel and his inane question of what does a bat think; and other familiar often told elsewhere thought experiments. Answer: 1) they are all featured too prominently within these lectures and 2) I think they should be retired since they each border on the silly. Come on now, Zombies act and behave exactly like you do but have no subjective state what’s that really mean? That Chinese room, why make it Chinese in the first place?
I don’t really see consciousness as an un-crackable riddle. The functional perception paradigm is not necessarily the last way to think about the ‘Hard problem’ of consciousness as this lecture mostly focuses on. I think the author was out of his depth when it came to AI (and math and thinking machines). Not to overly criticize, but Alan Turing did not have the oversize role of breaking the Enigma code as he states; Bletchley Park had many, many moving parts which also was preceded by Polish mathematicians who broke the Enigma code first. It was interesting to hear how Hubert Dreyfus and Searle were wrong about AI and consciousness, and the syntax/semantic distinction stayed with me.
If one takes the good with the bad with this lecture, the listener will get a fairly entertaining exposure to an incredibly interesting topic.
November 24, 2010
Philosophy of Mind has always been of great interest to me, and from the great presentation flow here it's obvious Prof. Grim is very well versed in the subject. The course has good progression and each half-hour lecture really brings out the essence of the philosophical issue at hand. I very much liked the over-arching themes that Grim chose to include and I thought he did a great job of summarizing them in the concise way that a great teacher does.
Major themes include human intelligence, artificial intelligence, perception and metaphysics, mind/body dualism, free will, and the "Hard Problem of Consciousness". In most cases you'll find that you've already thought about these ideas for yourself; the entertaining thought experiments in each lecture help you discover the crux of your own ideology while the theory & argument give you the language and framework to discuss it further.
Took a Philosophy of Mind course at college and this TTC course offered the unique advantage in the ability to rewind the teacher or listen to many lectures at a time if I'm in the mood for more. The lecturer of the course (Patrick Grim in this case) takes advantage of the recorded audio format to be clear and specific in speech, and to give the overall listening experience a consistent pacing.
Major themes include human intelligence, artificial intelligence, perception and metaphysics, mind/body dualism, free will, and the "Hard Problem of Consciousness". In most cases you'll find that you've already thought about these ideas for yourself; the entertaining thought experiments in each lecture help you discover the crux of your own ideology while the theory & argument give you the language and framework to discuss it further.
Took a Philosophy of Mind course at college and this TTC course offered the unique advantage in the ability to rewind the teacher or listen to many lectures at a time if I'm in the mood for more. The lecturer of the course (Patrick Grim in this case) takes advantage of the recorded audio format to be clear and specific in speech, and to give the overall listening experience a consistent pacing.
March 11, 2021
This is a good series, I think it gives a good overview of the domain. Grim is a good job of trying to give various perspectives without really endorsing any, but at the same time trying to get his own critical perspective.
As someone trained in computer science and biology, I feel like this course was a little bit more scientific than I was expecting; you end up hearing more about what computers and neural networks are, Babbage, Turing, etc., which from you was not very interesting because I've already been educated on those subjects. It also makes it a more materialist , scientific kind of course, leaving out whatever a more humanist kind of philosophy of mind would be; or perhaps that's just what philosophy of mind is, as a discipline. Because science is such a fast-moving discipline, I also wonder what has happened in the 13 years since this was originally published (2008) in the fields of neurology and neuroscience that might yield new insights on the questions and theories presented.
It also seems notable, with the exception of Wittgenstein, who was half continental half British, most of the philosophers discussed here are British or American (scientists and mathematicians more diverse). So that leaves me with a question whatever continental Europe (not to mention the rest of the world) have anything to say on philosophy of mind at all.
Rhetorically, Grim is organized and clear; diction is almost too perfect, giving a bit of a radio sports announcer vibe. Certainly one understands everything he is saying, and he has no annoying verbal tics , but the almost-excessive emphasis (or emphaticness) can feel oppressive after listening to him for a couple of hours.
As someone trained in computer science and biology, I feel like this course was a little bit more scientific than I was expecting; you end up hearing more about what computers and neural networks are, Babbage, Turing, etc., which from you was not very interesting because I've already been educated on those subjects. It also makes it a more materialist , scientific kind of course, leaving out whatever a more humanist kind of philosophy of mind would be; or perhaps that's just what philosophy of mind is, as a discipline. Because science is such a fast-moving discipline, I also wonder what has happened in the 13 years since this was originally published (2008) in the fields of neurology and neuroscience that might yield new insights on the questions and theories presented.
It also seems notable, with the exception of Wittgenstein, who was half continental half British, most of the philosophers discussed here are British or American (scientists and mathematicians more diverse). So that leaves me with a question whatever continental Europe (not to mention the rest of the world) have anything to say on philosophy of mind at all.
Rhetorically, Grim is organized and clear; diction is almost too perfect, giving a bit of a radio sports announcer vibe. Certainly one understands everything he is saying, and he has no annoying verbal tics , but the almost-excessive emphasis (or emphaticness) can feel oppressive after listening to him for a couple of hours.
August 12, 2019
Magnificent overview of a challenging subject by an accomplished professor. Anyone wanting to better understand the theoretical and practical aspects of the dynamics of our mental processes as relates to philosophy will be rewarded. There is something for everyone explained in a manner that keeps the lectures relevant. This is an academically challenging realm that ultimately seeks to understand the foundation of our consciousness and what it means to be a sentient being. Professor Grim hits the sweet spot of illuminating very complex subjects with entertaining examples. Some will take exception to his conclusions and the philosophical traditions he embraces to support them, but that is the natural culmination of his life’s work. He presents the historical traditions and science in a manner that allows individuals to draw their own conclusions. I imagine his classes are in very high demand.
February 2, 2021
What a great lecture series!! I’d gladly fill a full term schedule with Grim’s lessons.
June 2, 2022
A wonderful romp, using philosophy, computer science, thought experiments, and medicine to illuminate the topic.
August 5, 2016
DVD version...second time through.
As a college freshman I barely passed Philosophy 101, what with Aquinas's prime-mover business and all; so after a few years I decided to give it a go with Professor Grim's set of lectures. It was still a struggle, but I now have a bit more of an idea about the science of philosophy.
From Wikipedia: "Philosophy (from Greek φιλοσοφία, philosophia, literally "love of wisdom") is the study of general and fundamental problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. The term was probably coined by Pythagoras (c. 570 – c. 495 BC). Philosophical methods include questioning, critical discussion, rational argument and systematic presentation"
From this definition, Grim focuses on the mind...specifically the human mind...asking questions about the physical nature of the brain (neurology...what we 'think' makes it work in a physical sense). He then posits whether it is possible to create a machine that is like a brain (specifically computers and robotics...his answer seems to be 'no', but things may change with advancement in AI research). Finally the good doctor gets to the 'meat' (I loved his reference to the brain as a 'meat machine') of the lectures in exploring consciousness in the context of real vs mental worlds, free will and higher order thought (HOT) and much more.
All this means very little to those folks looking to purchase this set of lectures. In my opinion, what you get in these lectures is more of an approach to employing the scientific method to a very difficult, and possibly unanswerable, set of questions. Grim is masterful in laying the groundwork to explain a train of thought by summarizing leaders in particular fields...from Descartes to Searle to Turing to Kurzweil...then leaping into aspects of consciousness through thought exercises dealing with, for example, the taste of beer to what it's like to be a bat.
Professor Grim is well-prepared, with a smooth delivery and wry sense of humor (not to mention a spiffy 3-piece suit). If he is reading his material, he does so very well, since he seems to be making eye-contact with his physical audience. I believe that the video version of the lectures might be the better choice, since I believe some of the more negative reviews might have stemmed from not being able to see the few visuals or expressions on Grim's face...his topics are sometimes deep, and I needed all the help I could get to understand his point.
My only complaint is that Artie, the random uranium atom does not decay by losing electrons....
Good course...I recommend it, using a form of the dualism theory...finding the course on sale...AND having a coupon.
As a college freshman I barely passed Philosophy 101, what with Aquinas's prime-mover business and all; so after a few years I decided to give it a go with Professor Grim's set of lectures. It was still a struggle, but I now have a bit more of an idea about the science of philosophy.
From Wikipedia: "Philosophy (from Greek φιλοσοφία, philosophia, literally "love of wisdom") is the study of general and fundamental problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. The term was probably coined by Pythagoras (c. 570 – c. 495 BC). Philosophical methods include questioning, critical discussion, rational argument and systematic presentation"
From this definition, Grim focuses on the mind...specifically the human mind...asking questions about the physical nature of the brain (neurology...what we 'think' makes it work in a physical sense). He then posits whether it is possible to create a machine that is like a brain (specifically computers and robotics...his answer seems to be 'no', but things may change with advancement in AI research). Finally the good doctor gets to the 'meat' (I loved his reference to the brain as a 'meat machine') of the lectures in exploring consciousness in the context of real vs mental worlds, free will and higher order thought (HOT) and much more.
All this means very little to those folks looking to purchase this set of lectures. In my opinion, what you get in these lectures is more of an approach to employing the scientific method to a very difficult, and possibly unanswerable, set of questions. Grim is masterful in laying the groundwork to explain a train of thought by summarizing leaders in particular fields...from Descartes to Searle to Turing to Kurzweil...then leaping into aspects of consciousness through thought exercises dealing with, for example, the taste of beer to what it's like to be a bat.
Professor Grim is well-prepared, with a smooth delivery and wry sense of humor (not to mention a spiffy 3-piece suit). If he is reading his material, he does so very well, since he seems to be making eye-contact with his physical audience. I believe that the video version of the lectures might be the better choice, since I believe some of the more negative reviews might have stemmed from not being able to see the few visuals or expressions on Grim's face...his topics are sometimes deep, and I needed all the help I could get to understand his point.
My only complaint is that Artie, the random uranium atom does not decay by losing electrons....
Good course...I recommend it, using a form of the dualism theory...finding the course on sale...AND having a coupon.
April 9, 2020
He's a bit eager to dismiss reductive materialism in my opinion, but, in general, he provides a very interesting, well-balanced, and thorough overview on the history of the philosophy of consciousness and where the field is today.
March 24, 2014
Everyone should listen to this, literally mind boggling, fabulous!
March 24, 2016
حظ زیادی بردم از این کتاب.
January 24, 2024
A well balanced account, if a little bit outdated at this point. Some oversimplification is inevitable because the concepts involved are subtle and not well understood. (There's no way he can explain Godel's Incompleteness Theorem in detail. And after looking at the Wiki on it I realize there's no way I could understand it in detail, but his simplification is perfectly functional for purposes of the course.) I also like the way the course begins with the basic problem of consciousness and the mind/body problem only to return to it at the end after discussing "thinking machines." Turns out artificial intelligence hasn't solved the problem of consciousness! But AI does throw the problem into relief, which is why Dr. Grim spends so much time on it. (Maybe a little too much time...I expect his more recent course on mind-body philosophy could be a better option for interested listeners.)
November 15, 2018
It’s a lengthy listen (audio) but s fascinating introduction to many aspects of the study of the mind and philosophical thinking. I’m not expert enough on the subject to give a complete appraisal on the merits of the subject matter and have noted reviews that question Professor Grims assessments of Dualism, for example, but he covers a great deal of ground throughout and - for me, a rank amateur in the philosophy of the mind - introduces a number of fascinating concepts, many of which I’m also reading about in an Alan Watts book, for which I’m sure to post a review some time soon! Worth a listen for anyone interested in the topic.
August 23, 2024
Fascinating. However, I found a place that does not seem to be logically consistent.
His argument for dualism is as follows: We don't understand how the physical and nonmaterial world could interact with each other; therefore, dualism is false.
That would be like saying this: We don't understand how gravity works; therefore, gravity is false.
We may understand that gravity works; we just don't understand how or why gravity works, so why would we eliminate dualism on the basis that we may not understand how it would work?
However, it was a fascinating read. It's interesting to see how people think.
His argument for dualism is as follows: We don't understand how the physical and nonmaterial world could interact with each other; therefore, dualism is false.
That would be like saying this: We don't understand how gravity works; therefore, gravity is false.
We may understand that gravity works; we just don't understand how or why gravity works, so why would we eliminate dualism on the basis that we may not understand how it would work?
However, it was a fascinating read. It's interesting to see how people think.
November 27, 2022
It took a little while for me to be able to engage with this course due to it being something I have given a lot of thought to, but together with the first third of Journey of the Mind, and insights gained from Godel, Escher, Bach, as well as other sources and letting it all marinate for years, I feel like I finally have a foundation of what the first principles of the mind are, which has been a big part of my learning journey this year. Mostly, this course gave my ideas an opportunity to interact with those principles, and see what areas of exploration are least explored.
July 5, 2023
For me, this was a perfect introduction to philosophy of mind. I was curious about the subject and tried to pick up a book a few months ago and was finding it difficult to follow. After listening to this course, I think I now have the foundation to be able to understand that book and others on the topic.
While mostly concentrating on the topic of consciousness, the course also covers intelligence, perception, artificial intelligence, and free will.
I recommend this course to anyone who wants an introduction to philosophy of mind.
While mostly concentrating on the topic of consciousness, the course also covers intelligence, perception, artificial intelligence, and free will.
I recommend this course to anyone who wants an introduction to philosophy of mind.
May 16, 2020
I used to listen to this course on my way tocand from work. This series of lectures is outstanding! Where do I start? The content is utterly interesting, Professor Grim's teaching is absolutely intriguing. He is not biased towards any particular world view. He leaves it up to you to decide (or not! )
This course is a must if you want to think about thinking, contemplate mind, consciousness and even life in general
This course is a must if you want to think about thinking, contemplate mind, consciousness and even life in general
July 20, 2022
Good overview, worth reading (well, listening to) shortly after those recent claims that Google has developed a sentient machine. Not that deep or technical, which means it's very understandable, with well-considered introductions to key thinkers and theories, from Descartes and Leibniz via Lovelace, Godel, Turing and contemporary debates over AI and the ethics of sentient machines.
On 2x speed, the lecturer also sounds like a 1940s newsreel reporter, which made it quite entertaining.
On 2x speed, the lecturer also sounds like a 1940s newsreel reporter, which made it quite entertaining.
August 8, 2017
An exploration of the philosophical and scientific viewpoints surrounding consciousness, this didn't give me much new-to-me information, but it did bring me back to some philosophical problems that have always turned my head inside out. The lecturer was fine to listen to and it seems like a good introductory course for people unfamiliar with the subject.
February 6, 2020
The early lectures and the final lectures are excellent as they stay rooted in philosophy and though they are not more than a general overview, they do an excellent job covering the basic schools of thought
May 16, 2020
I love the idea of studying Minds, Brains & AI simultaneously. There are some really good insights here, but man philosophy is tedious as hell. Every time is wander into philosophy it makes me want to question my existence.
July 10, 2023
It's probably one of the best times to reflect on the history of human minds and re-imagining what it could be like for an "artificial" minds might look like. Needless to say, the parts most fascinated me are those discussed AI.
September 15, 2024
Something about this professor was just rubbing me the wrong way from the beginning. The subject is interesting though, so I stuck with it and then the sneaky bastard went and won me over. Gotta respect it.
Imma go find some more of his stuff to check out.
Imma go find some more of his stuff to check out.
December 31, 2016
A very great course. I love his explanations. And his openness to new ideas. Though I find it a little biased towards functionalism. But generally, it was logical and fun!
October 4, 2017
A truly great course. So much information packed in the 24 lectures. Just finished it and planning to hear it again.
November 13, 2017
Clear and thorough explanations. A good introduction on the subject.
July 19, 2018
3.5/5.0
December 17, 2019
Very basic intro to cognitive science.
April 27, 2020
An extremely interesting lecture series that explores the topic of human consciousness.
June 5, 2020
Very interesting
Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews