Mental Health and Illness: a Science of Mind

Date/Time

30/11/2019 (Saturday)

2.00 - 5.00 pm

Location
The Adelaide





A Saturday School presented by Yasemin J Erden.

Have you ever wondered what the connection is between your mind and your brain? And whether your mind is a physical part of you? Say, as a manifestation of brain behaviour, or something else entirely. In this session we will explore some of these questions, and some central problems in philosophy of mind, as well as some contemporary responses to to those problems.

Philosophy of mind is increasingly interdisciplinary. Research from fields like psychology and neuroscience both challenge and support well established philosophical theories. We’ll start our session by exploring some of those theories, including dualism and materialism, and then we’ll use these as a springboard to consider topics of mental health and illness. In this way we will examine philosophical methods on the one hand, and ask whether a science of mind is possible on the other, as well as asking how the two relate.

And if you think you already know your own mind, you might be surprised by what you learn in this session. For example, did you spot the double ‘to’ somewhere in the opening paragraph of this abstract? If not, do you know why not? And if you did spot it, do you know why? I can offer some answers to these questions when we meet. So come with an open mind, and consider in the meantime what it would mean to ‘open’ a mind anyway.