Department of Philosophy
Minor in Philosophy of Mind and Cognition
Students on Summer 2021, Fall 2021, or Spring 2022 requirements PHILMCMIN
The Minor in Philosophy of Mind and Cognition aims to provide familiarity with foundational issues pertaining to the mind as well as with conceptual tools and skills helpful for thinking about the mind from an interdisciplinary standpoint. It will be of interest to students in biology, human biology, psychology, brain science, cognitive science, computer science, informatics, and other areas who are interested in fundamental questions about the nature of the mind, thought, and action.
Requirements
The minor requires at least 16 credit hours*, including the requirements listed below.
- Introduction to Philosophy of Mind. One (1) course:
- PHIL-P 360 Philosophy of Mind
PHIL-P 360 Philosophy of Mind
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Notes
- R: 3 credit hours of philosophy or coursework in cognitive science or brain and psychological science
- Description
- Selected topics from among the following: the nature of mental phenomena (e.g., thinking, volition, perception, emotion); the mind-body problem (e.g., dualism, behaviorism, functionalism); connections to cognitive science issues in psychology, linguistics, and artificial intelligence; computational theories of mind.
- Fall 2024CASE AHcourseSummer 2024CASE AHcourseSpring 2024CASE AHcourse
- Philosophical Foundations. One (1) course:
- COGS-Q 240 Philosophical Foundations of the Cognitive and Information Sciences
COGS-Q 240 Philosophical Foundations of the Cognitive and Information Sciences
- Credits
- 4
- Prerequisites
- None
- Description
- Foundational introduction to the cognitive and information sciences. The primary themes are: (1) causal issues such as functional and computational architecture (e.g., modularity, effectiveness, and implementation, analog/digital), neuroscience, and embodied dynamics; and (2) semantic issues such as meaning, representation, content, and information flow. The role of both themes in logic, perception, computation, cognition, and consciousness. Throughout, an emphasis on writing, analysis, and exposition.
- Fall 2024CASE AHcourseSummer 2024CASE AHcourseSpring 2024CASE AHcourse
- Logic. One (1) course:
- PHIL-P 250 Introductory Symbolic Logic
- PHIL-P 251 Intermediate Symbolic Logic
- PHIL-P 352 Logic and Philosophy
PHIL-P 250 Introductory Symbolic Logic
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Description
- Propositional logic and first-order quantificational logic.
- Repeatability
- No credit for PHIL-P 150 if PHIL-P 250 taken first or concurrently.
- Fall 2024CASE NMcourseSummer 2024CASE NMcourseSpring 2024CASE NMcourse
PHIL-P 251 Intermediate Symbolic Logic
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- PHIL-P 250 or consent of instructor
- Description
- Identity, definite descriptions, properties of formal theories, elementary set theory.
- Fall 2024CASE NMcourseSummer 2024CASE NMcourseSpring 2024CASE NMcourse
PHIL-P 352 Logic and Philosophy
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- PHIL-P 250 or consent of instructor
- Description
- Relation of logic to other areas of philosophy. Selected topics from among the following: logic and ontology; logic and language; logic, reasoning, and belief; intentionality and intentional logic; tense and modal logic; individuation, reference, identity.
- Fall 2024CASE AHcourseSummer 2024CASE AHcourseSpring 2024CASE AHcourse
- Electives. Two (2) courses:
- PHIL-P 211 Early Modern Philosophy
- PHIL-P 310 Topics in Metaphysics
- PHIL-P 312 Topics in the Theory of Knowledge
- PHIL-P 320 Philosophy of Language
- PHIL-P 366 Philosophy of Action
PHIL-P 211 Early Modern Philosophy
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Notes
- R: 3 credit hours in Philosophy
- Description
- Selective survey of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century philosophy, including some or all of the following: Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Kant.
- Fall 2024CASE AHcourseSummer 2024CASE AHcourseSpring 2024CASE AHcourse
PHIL-P 310 Topics in Metaphysics
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Notes
- R: 3 credit hours in philosophy
- Description
- Topics such as existence, individuation, contingency, universals and particulars, causality, determinism, space, time, events and change, relation of mental and physical.
- Fall 2024CASE AHcourseSummer 2024CASE AHcourseSpring 2024CASE AHcourse
PHIL-P 312 Topics in the Theory of Knowledge
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Notes
- R: 3 credit hours in philosophy
- Description
- Topics such as various theories of perceptual realism, sense-datum theories, theories of appearing, phenomenalism, the nature of knowledge, the relation between knowledge and belief, relation between knowledge and evidence, and the problem of skepticism.
- Fall 2024CASE AHcourseSummer 2024CASE AHcourseSpring 2024CASE AHcourse
PHIL-P 320 Philosophy of Language
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Notes
- R: PHIL-P 250 (or another logic course involving formal languages and methods, such as COGS-Q 350 or MATH-M 384) and at least one other course in Philosophy. Students who have not successfully completed a course in logic may find this course difficult
- Description
- A study of selected philosophical problems concerning language and their bearing on traditional problems in philosophy.
- Fall 2024CASE AHcourseSummer 2024CASE AHcourseSpring 2024CASE AHcourse
PHIL-P 366 Philosophy of Action
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Notes
- R: 3 credit hours of philosophy
- Description
- The nature of human and rational action: the structure of intentions and practical consciousness; the role of the self in action; volitions; the connections of desires, needs, and purposes to intentions and doings; causation and motivation; freedom; the structure of deliberation; rational actions and duties, whether moral or institutional.
- Fall 2024CASE AHcourseSummer 2024CASE AHcourseSpring 2024CASE AHcourse
- Minor GPA, Hours, and Minimum Grade Requirements.
- Minor GPA. A GPA of at least 2.000 for all courses taken in the minor—including those where a grade lower than C- is earned—is required.
- Minor Minimum Grade. Except for the GPA requirement, a grade of C- or higher is required for a course to count toward a requirement in the minor.
- Minor Upper Division Credit Hours. At least 9 credit hours in the minor must be completed at the 300–499 level.
- Minor Residency. At least 9 credit hours in the minor must be completed in courses taken through the Indiana University Bloomington campus or an IU-administered or IU co-sponsored Overseas Study program.
Notes
Minor Area Courses
Unless otherwise noted below, the following courses are considered in the academic program and will count toward academic program requirements as appropriate:
- Any course contained on the course lists for the academic program requirements at the time the course is taken—as well as any other courses that are deemed functionally equivalent—except for those listed only under Addenda Requirements
- Any course directed to a non-Addenda requirement through an approved exception
This program of study cannot be combined with the following:
- Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy (PHILBA)
- Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Political Science (PHILPOLSBA)
- Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Religious Studies (PHILRELBA)
- Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Philosophy (POLSPHILBA)
- Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies and Philosophy (RELPHILBA)
- Minor in Philosophy (PHILMIN)
- Minor in Philosophy of the Arts (PHILARMIN)
Exceptions to and substitutions for minor requirements may be made with the approval of the unit's Director of Undergraduate Studies, subject to final approval by the College of Arts and Sciences.