PHI 352 - Philosophy Seminar

Fall 2023

Agency, Responsibility, and the Mental
Griffith

As agents, we perform actions, both mental and physical. We also have complicated inner mental lives. Among other things, we have emotions, desires, attitudes, and beliefs; we think, we deliberate, we imagine, and we remember. In this seminar we will explore some of the intersecting issues between agency and our mental world. Questions we will consider include, but are not limited to, the following: Which mental states or events do we control, if any? Are we morally responsible for these? For example, are we responsible for our attitudes and our thoughts? What kinds of mental capacities are required for us to be agents at all? Can non-human animals be agents? Does imagination play a role in agency? Does memory? What happens if our mental states do not give us perfect information about the world, for example, when we are delusional? Does this take away our agency? Does it take away our moral responsibility?

 

Prerequisites & Notes
This course can be repeated for credit given sufficiently distinct topics: check with the department chair. (Fall, Spring)