This seminar will explore the philosophies that have contributed to our belief that Turing equivalent computers can achieve human-like intelligence and contrasting philosophies of consciousness, which challenge that belief. We will follow parallel tracks of reading along two branches of philosophy, dualism and monism, to gain a comparative understanding of each viewpoint. On the dualist side we will start from Descartes and Kant, working forward to 20th century mechanistic models of intelligence and some more recent work that reexamines this approach. On the monist side we will primarily rely on a text by the early 20th century Austrian philosopher, Rudolf Steiner, which surveys dualism and monist and proposes a new form of monism. Students will be expected to read roughly one paper and one book chapter per week, writing summaries of the reading and preparing discussion questions. For the dualist track, each week, one or two students will prepare a paper more extensively and lead the discussion. Grading is thus based on in-person attendance, reading summaries and questions, and leading one discussion. The book and papers will be provided. Counts as a CS Elective for CS Majors.
Open to junior and senior Computer Science and Informatics majors. COMPSCI 250 & 383/389 w/ C This will be a reading seminar involving 4 to 8 hours of reading and preparation per week. Each week will involve reading a paper and a book chapter. For ten of the weeks, one or two students will sign up to prepare and lead a discussion of one paper. Reading summary notes and questions will be submitted. Grading is based on attendance, submitted work, and the preparation for leading a discussion. There are no exams. The book and papers will be provided. Inform majors may petition the informatics program director for a case-by-case review to count as an informatics elective. Compsci 589 with a grade of c or better may be used as an alternate prerequisite in place of Compsci 383 or 389. Students needing special permission must request overrides via the on-line form: https://www.cics.umass.edu/academics/course-overrides
Permission is required for interchange registration during the add/drop period only.
