Although it has been asked many times in many ways, this course focuses on what is arguably the most profound question ever raised: “What is Consciousness?” It is more than our experience of the world around us as compiled by the brain from nerve impulses sent by various sense organs. Also compiled are nerve impulses from within that tell us about our body and our past. We use it to plan what we do both in the next few seconds and for as far as we can envision a future. Consciousness is what and who we are. Until the 1990s the word was almost taboo in psychology - not used by respectable scientists. Yet as cognitive psychology burst forth in the 1970s, consciousness quickly reached the respectable boundaries and forged on, aided by ever more sophisticated methods of studying the brain. This course reviews the philosophical ideas that preceded and then accompanied the science. It examines the current state of what we know about the operations of the brain that produce consciousness.
Prerequisites: Psychology 101-102, 278-279 or 251, either 211 or 212, and one of: 311, 312, 361, 381, or 382 or permission of instructor
Department of Psychology
Memorial Hall | tel. 902-566-0563 | fax. 902-628-4359 | email. psychology@upei.ca
