Syllabus for Buddhist Philosophy of Mind Graduate Seminar

Buddhist Philosophy in Dialogue with Philosophy of Mind and Cognitive Science

Meeting Times: TBD
Location: TBA
Instructor: Sean M. Smith
Contact: sean.smith@mail.utoronto.ca or (647) 907 5611
NOTE: E-mails should concern procedural questions about the course only. Philosophical questions
will be addressed in class and during office hours. Email must be sent from a utoronto account.
Office Hours: TBD and by appointment
Course Description:
This course will be an intensive seminar on the question of how cross-cultural philosophy can help to
enrich and expand upon scientific and philosophical approaches to understanding phenomenal
consciousness. Our focus will be on the way in which Buddhist philosophy has interacted with
various modalities of scientific and philosophical discourse. The course will have three parts, the first
of which will discuss general issues regarding the relationship of Buddhism and science. Part II
explores the nature of the self and consciousness. This will be the most substantial portion of the
course. The third part engages with some of the scientific literature that has been produced on
Buddhist contemplative practices.
Texts: available at the Bob Miller Book Room
Waking, Dreaming, Being by Evan Thompson [WDB]
Engaging Buddhism by Jay Garfield [EB]
The Bodhisattva's Brain by Owen Flanagan [BB]
All other readings will be available online in pdf format.
Course Requirements:
1. Short Paper (4-6 pp)
2. Long paper proposal (2-3 pp + bibliography)
3. Long Paper (15-20 pp)
4. Class Participation

20% of course grade

10% of course grade
50% of course grade
20% of course grade

Assignments should be submitted in hard copy in class.

Readings and Schedule:
Students are expected to attend all classes. If a student expects to miss more than two classes, they
should provide medical documentation such that their participation grade does not suffer. Each class
will be divided roughly in two, with the first half being an intensive lecture by the instructor and the
second half being a focused discussion with everyone. Everyone is expected to do the assigned
readings prior to class, and to come ready to discuss them.
PART I: Buddhism and Science
Class 1: Buddhist Philosophy in Outline

Chapters 1 and 2 of Indian Buddhist Philosophy by Amber Carpenter

Chapters 1 and 2 of Buddhism as Philosophy by Mark Siderits

Class 2: Is Buddhism a Science of Mind? (I)

What Buddhism Taught Cognitive Science about Self, Mind, and Brain, by Asaf Federman
Ask Not What Buddhism Can Do for Cognitive Science; Ask What Cognitive Science Can Do for
Buddhism, by Jay Garfield

Class 3: Is Buddhism a Science of Mind? (II)

Buddhism and Science: How Far Can the Dialogue Proceed? by Thupten Jinpa
A Scientific Buddhism? by Peter Harrison
The Future of the Buddhist Past: A Response to the Readers, by Donald S. Lopez, Jr.,

PART II: The Self and Consciousness

Class 4: The Self

Chapter 4 of EB
Introduction and chapter 10 of WDB

Class 5: The Varieties of Consciousness (I)

Chapters 1-2 of WDB

Class 6: The Varieties of Consciousness (II)

Chapter 7 of The Self: Naturalism, Consciousness, and the First-Person Stance by Jonardon
Ganeri,
Chapter 5 of EB

Class 7: The Hard Problem of Consciousness (I)

"Facing up to the Problem of Consciousness" by David Chalmers

Buddhas as Zombies: A Buddhist Reduction of Subjectivity by Mark Siderits
From the Five Aggregates to Phenomenal Consciousness: Towards a Cross-Cultural Cognitive
Science by Jake H. Davis and Evan Thompson

Class 8: The Hard Problem of Consciousness (II)

Dharmakrtis Dualism: Critical Reflections on a Buddhist Proof of Rebirth, by Dan Arnold

Chapters 3 and 9 of WDB

Class 9: Phenomenology

Chapter 6 of EB
Neurophenomenology: A Methodological Remedy for the Hard Problem, by Francisco J. Varela

PART III: Buddhist Practice and Neuroscience

Class 10: Mindfulness and Meditation

Mahsatipatthna Sutta from the Pli tipitika

What Does Mindfulness Really Mean? A Canonical Perspective by Bhikkhu Bodhi,
On Some Definitions of Mindfulness by Rupert Gethin
Is Mindfulness Present-Centered and Non-Judgmental? A Discussion of the Cognitive
Dimensions of Mindfulness by Georges Dreyfus

Class 11: Contemplative Neuroscience (I)

Meditation and the Neuroscience of Consciousness: An Introduction, by Antoine Lutz, John D.

Dunne, and Richard J. Davidson,
Attention Regulation and Monitoring in Meditation, by Antoine Lutz, Heleen A. Slagter, John
D. Dunne, and Richard J. Davidson,
"Meditation Alters Perceptual Rivalry in Tibetan Buddhist Monks" by Carter et al.

Class 12: Contemplative Neuroscience (II)

Chapters 1-3 of BB