Can a Robot Have a Mind?

FYS 129 — Freshman Seminar (section 010)

Fall 2015


Classes: 2:30 p.m. – 3:20 p.m Fridays in location Min Kao 623.

Instructor:

Bruce MacLennan, PhD
Phone: 974-0994
Office: Min Kao 550
Office Hours: TBA, or make an appointment
Email: maclennan@utk.edu

Contents


Description

Suppose we could make a robot with the intelligence of a human. Would it be conscious? Feel emotions? Have free will? How could you tell? In this seminar we will look at these questions carefully and discuss how they could be answered. In the process of investigating the robot question, we will get a deeper understanding of our own minds. We will also view some videos of recent sociable robots.


Text

Copeland, Jack, Artificial Intelligence:  A Philosophical  Introduction, Blackwell, 1993.  Paperback ISBN: 0-631-18385-X.  You can get a new copy for $39.20 from Amazon and used copies from about $2. There is also a copy on reserve in Hodges Library (under MacLennan, FYS 129).

Grading

We will meet on Wednesdays, 3:35–4:25. You are expected to attend most of the classes, and you will not pass if you miss more than three (unless you have very good excuses!). You will be expected to do, on the average, two hours of out-of-class work before each meeting (most of this will be reading). If you do the readings and the assignments, and participate at least a little in class discussions, you will pass the class.

Reading

Usually you will be expected to read one chapter of the text for each class. Usually I will give you a couple of questions to think about while you are reading the chapter.

Written Assignments

Sometimes I will ask you to write a paragraph on some topic in the chapter, or I may ask you to write down a couple of questions that you thought of while reading the chapter and that we can discuss in class. Or I might do something else of similar difficulty!

Classroom Discussion

I want most of the class to be devoted to informed discussion of what we have read. By informed I mean informed by the readings and careful thinking. Depending on the topic, I might begin by discussing some issues to get the discussion started. I expect everyone to participate, but it is OK if some people participate less than others. There is nothing wrong with considering broader issues, so long as we don't get completely off-topic.

Online Discussion

I will set up the Blackboard site so that we can continue the discussion online, or so that you can ask questions of each other (and me) if you have trouble with the reading.



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Last updated: 2015-07-22.