•Your task is to write a coherent, self-contained paper, with a clear, unified argument, about one or two specific points. Do not try to write about a whole article or book, or a whole issue, or every objection to a view. You must make choices of focus.1.)Armstrong proposes that consciousness is a self-scanning mechanism. Do you agree or disagree? Additional requirements for this paper are the following (make sure you do all of these):etc..I also have all formatting and basic instructions on my login for school which I can provide.
1st Paper Topics Cognitive Science Word Count and Due Date Write a paper of 600-700 words (not including the paper title, citations, etc.) on 1 topic listed below. Due: Friday October 2nd at 11:59pm. Make sure you receive a confirmation email after submitting your paper. Topics 1.) Armstrong proposes that consciousness is a self-scanning mechanism. Do you agree or disagree? Additional requirements for this paper are the following (make sure you do all of these): · First, explain his view in your own words. Focus only on what he says about self-scanning. · Notice that the prompt does not mention “the central nervous system.” This paper is not about physicalism versus dualism. Do not summarize all of Armstrong’s paper, and do not discuss off-topic issues like what he says about scientism, consensus, behaviorism, or dispositions. This paper is not about religion or morality either. Just focus on his account of consciousness as self-scanning! (For example, you can be a dualist and still endorse his view of self-scanning!) · This paper is not about free will. Do not talk about computers “just doing what they’re programmed to do.” · Raise what you think is the strongest possible objection to his view and offer what you think is his best possible reply to this objection. Probably devote at least one paragraph each to the objection and the reply. · Discuss at least one additional author from the assigned materials (readings, videos, etc.) for this course. You can discuss any author (or speaker, or video) you like. You cannot just cite another person we talked about (like Descartes). You have to cite someone whose work was actually assigned for class. You can draw on my lecture notes or slides but these won’t count as one of your two sources. 2.) Defend the claim that the mind can be studied scientifically against someone who thinks the mind cannot be studied scientifically. (If you don’t agree with this claim, pretend you do for the purposes of this paper; if you want, you can add a note at the end of the paper in parentheses clarifying what you really believe.) · Defend either behaviorism, physicalism, functionalism, or eliminativism against a skeptic (perhaps your imagined skeptic is a dualist, or perhaps they just think the mind is too mysterious or complex, etc.). · Option 1: begin with the best possible argument for the view you are defending, followed by the strongest possible objection you can think of, followed by the best possible reply to the objection. · Option 2: start with the strongest objection you can think of to the view you defend, then give the best possible reply. · You must discuss at least two authors from the assigned materials (readings, videos, etc.) for this course. You can discuss any two authors (or speakers) you like. You cannot just cite a person we talked about (like Descartes). You have to cite someone whose work was actually assigned for class. You can draw on my lecture notes or slides but these won’t count as one of your two sources. · Note: giving a summary of what dualists believe is not the same thing as giving reasons to endorse dualism, or to reject the view that the mind can be studied scientifically. What are the arguments (e.g., thought experiments) people give against studying the mind scientifically? 3.) Or you can write on a different topic—if you clear it with me first. Come talk to me in my office hours or by appointment. Note: many of you will want to write about artificial intelligence. I don’t want you to write about this yet. This will be one of the options for the next paper topic. Make sure you receive a confirmation email after submitting your paper Make sure you receive a confirmation email after submitting your paper Paper Checklist Formatting · Double-spaced · Normal margins (1 inch all the way around) · Times New Roman · Font: 12pt · Page numbers · Anonymous review (don’t put your name in the body of text or the file name) · Paper title at the top of the 1st page (no cover page) · Paper topic number at the top of the 1st page · Check your word count Citations · No secondary sources (unless cleared in advance) · No “works cited” or “bibliography” page · Citations are from texts assigned in class (unless cleared in advance) · All quotes and paraphrases are cited · Paraphrases are in your own words, not too close to the original · Citations are simple and brief · Omitting words from a quote: ellipsis (“bla … bla”). · Adding words to a quote: brackets (“bla [bla] bla”). Submitting digital copies · Triple check the due date and time · Did you receive a confirmation email for your submission? · If you’re worried that you can’t upload your paper properly, you can also email it. (You must eventually submit it on Blackboard, but you can email it to me to establish that the paper’s not late.) Note on Late Papers: The Clock o’ Lateness starts ticking the minute that the paper is due. Your grade will be docked for every day that it’s late, beginning one minute after the paper is due (=1 day late), then 24 hours after that (=2 days late). General Paper Instructions: Submission & Formatting Word Counts and Due Dates · See the Paper Topics document for specific instructions about word counts and due dates. · I don’t count the paper title, the words used for citations, etc., toward your paper’s word count. · Late papers will be penalized one third of a letter grade for every day late, starting one minute the day it’s due (A becomes A-, A- becomes B+, etc.). Handing It In · All paper submissions must be uploaded digitally to Blackboard. No hard copies. · You will receive a confirmation email after successfully submitting your paper · Submit your paper in .pdf, .doc, or .docx form. (If you write your papers in Apple Pages, you must take extra steps to convert the file to a format Blackboard can read.) · Prepare your papers for anonymous review. That means do not put your name at the top, in the file name, or the header/footer! · If you have difficulty uploading your paper, you can email it to me to establish that the paper is not late, but you must eventually upload your paper directly to Bb. Formatting Requirements · Consult the Formatting Checklist before submitting your paper (see last page) · Double-space papers, with normal margins (1 inch all the way around), in Times New Roman, 12pt font. · Put a paper title and the number of the paper topic at the top of the first page. Number your pages. · Focus on assigned materials. If you want to cite a secondary source (that is, different from the assigned readings or videos), you must clear it with me first. (There is a lot of useless or misleading info on the internet!) Grades will be penalized if sources are not approved in advance. · Do not use a cover page and do not add a “Works Cited” list unless you cite a secondary source. (Even then, you can probably just put the new reference in a footnote rather than a bibliography.) · Citations should be simple and brief. For example, you can just write: (Madva 66). If you only cite one text, you can just give me the page or passage number. You must cite page numbers, even for paraphrasing. For an article without page numbers, cite the section (if possible) and paragraph number like this: “(IV.P2).” For videos, please cite the time (minute:second), like “(Madva Video, 5:49).” If you draw any ideas, examples, or metaphors from my lectures, slides, or another student’s comments, you must cite it, e.g., “(Madva lecture 12/31/99).” ***~~~You must cite the source for every claim you take from a source.~~~*** · If you are omitting some words from a citation, use an ellipsis (“…”). If you want to add words to clarify a quote, use [brackets]. Citations must be to the page numbers of the texts specifically assigned for the class, and not to alternate editions. Academic Honesty Students caught plagiarizing will receive an F in the course. Be especially vigilant about saying things in your own words when you paraphrase, and about taking ideas from other sources (class, secondary reading, or the internet) without citing them. Even searching Google for simple facts counts as an outside source and must be cited. General Notes · Make sure you receive a confirmation email after submitting your paper! · Don’t bother making any general introductory claims, like “Since the dawn of man, man has pondered the nature of reality.” Get straight to the point. (And don’t say “man!”) · Don’t claim to “completely refute” these thinkers or prove that they’re idiots. You can raise objections and voice strong disagreement, but you won’t settle any debates in 600 words. You probably won’t “prove” anything once and for all, or establish a claim with perfect “certainty,” either. · Work with small samples of text and use as few direct quotations as possible. Explain the passage as clearly as possible in your own words. · Raise issues that go beyond what we discussed in class (don’t just regurgitate notes). · The largest percentage of your paper grade (30%; see Rubric) is to demonstrate your understanding of the material by explaining it as if your reader is a beginner who is unfamiliar with the topic. Do not assume that because I’m the teacher, I already know what all the words mean or what’s going on. Any technical terms need to be defined or illuminated with an example. · The 2nd largest percentage of your paper grade is your argument: giving excellent reasons to support your thesis. Most prompts require you to raise the strongest possible objection to your argument and give the best possible reply to that objection. · This key requirement reflects one of the essential skills this class aims to develop: perspective-taking. Your job is to take the perspective of people who disagree with you, and, in your own words, to articulate the best reasons they could give (for their view or against yours). · Plan to devote one whole paragraph to raising and explaining your opponent’s objection and making it seem strong, and then one whole paragraph to responding to the objection as best you can. · Describing an alternative view is not the same thing as raising an objection, which requires giving reasons or arguments. Compare: if in one paragraph I say “Muslims and many Jews believe that Jesus was a prophet (like Moses)…” and