3P09 Mind and Body

Tutor/Facilitator Douglas Adeney

When
Date: on/from Wed 22 Apr 2026 to Wed 24 Jun 2026
Frequency: Weekly
Class time: 10:00-11:30

Delivered F2F

Where
Betty Day Community Centre, Hall

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Other information

You have a mind, with thoughts and feelings.  How is this related to your body?  Is the mind a thing distinct from the body, and possibly able to survive it, as dualists say?  Or are mental items merely physical states of the brain, as materialists say? We shall critically examine these classic views and various others, including some attempted ‘middle ways’.  We shall also consider some important related issues.  Could a machine have thoughts and feelings, as you do?  What is it that provides your identity through time as one person, despite many changes?

Among the historical figures we shall encounter are the ‘father of modern philosophy’, René Descartes; three titled and accomplished ladies, namely Queen Kristina of Sweden, Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia, and Lady Ada Lovelace; and the codebreaking and computing genius Alan Turing.

TUTOR: Douglas has Philosophy degrees from Monash University (MA) and the University of St Andrews, Scotland (PhD).  He taught philosophy at Melbourne State College and then for many years at the University of Melbourne.  He has been joyfully involved at U3APP since 2018.

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