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Sessions: 1Class Date(s): 05-23-2024 to 05-23-2024Day(s) of the week: ThursdayTime: 10:30 AM → 12:00 PMInstructor: Steven Gimbel, Professor of Philosophy, Gettysburg CollegeTerm: 2024-2Location: Online ClassHumans are conscious beings--at least after our morning coffee. But what is the source of this consciousness? It seems like it has to be the brain, the mind, and/or the soul. It is only in the 20th century that the concepts of mind, brain, and soul were completely differentiated. What do we mean by these ideas? How to they relate to one another? Should we... read more
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Sessions: 1Class Date(s): 06-20-2024 to 06-20-2024Day(s) of the week: ThursdayTime: 10:30 AM → 12:00 PMInstructor: Steven Gimbel, Professor of Philosophy, Gettysburg CollegeTerm: 2024-2Location: Online ClassThe classical Greeks defined human beings as rational animals, but are we really? It turns out that our brains are actually wired in many circumstances to believe irrational ideas, to draw unsupported conclusions and believe them. We will examine a number of these cognitive biases and logical fallacies and consider ways to avoid... read more
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Sessions: 1Class Date(s): 07-18-2024 to 07-18-2024Day(s) of the week: ThursdayTime: 10:30 AM → 12:00 PMInstructor: Steven Gimbel, Professor of Philosophy, Gettysburg CollegeTerm: 2024-2Location: Online ClassMachines can think...or can they? We know computers can calculate, and we know that for us to calculate we must think, but surely it does not then follow that computers must have thoughts. But could they? What would it mean for a machine to think? How would we know if a machine was actually thinking or just making it look as if it... read more
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Sessions: 1Class Date(s): 08-08-2024 to 08-08-2024Day(s) of the week: ThursdayTime: 10:30 AM → 12:00 PMInstructor: Steven Gimbel, Professor of Philosophy, Gettysburg CollegeTerm: 2024-2Location: Online ClassAre there thoughts we cannot think and if so, how can we think about them? What are the limits of thoughts? Are they indicative of aspects of the world or simply arbitrary boundaries of our neurological wiring? We can surely think of thinks that are false, but can we imagine that which is impossible? Could there be truths that we cannot know and if so, how... read more