Essay 1. Q500, Introduction to Cognitive Science
September 1, 1999

Write an essay, 1000-1500 words, on the topic below. It will be read and commented on by at least 5 people in the class (in addition to the instructors). Please post it by midnight on Wednesday, Sept 8. You will then need to read and comment on others' essays by Saturday midnight, Sept 11. The final revised version of the essay is due the next Wednesday at midnight, Sept 15.

Essay 1. In `The Saga of Modern Mind,' Haugeland speaks of ``hopeless dualism'' (p. 39), the `dualist desperados' (p. 38) and the ``paradox of mechanical reason''. Why is there such a problem here? And why is it that religion cannot stay out of the fracass? Why is it so difficult to understand how our phenomenal experience and our bodies can be responsive to (ie, intentional with respect to) the world? (Think of this as 3 ways to approach one question, not as 3 distinct questions.)

PROCEDURE.

You will post your essay to our Annotate session (soon to be available) on the web. You can use the internal editor or paste your text in from another editor. Sean and I will read and comment on all the essays. Each of you should read and post comments for at least five other essays (though hopefully you will want to read them all!). Both the original essay and your comments will be readable to everyone in the class. Student and instructors will write comments - inserted generally between paragraphs - making observations and suggestions about the text.

There is a list of students admitted to our session of Annotate. This time, each student should read and publish comments on the 5 names that follow you in the list (assume the list wraps around from Z to A).

ETIQUETTE.

Most of us are unaccustomed to sharing essays like these with our peers in such a public way. So be nice. That doesn't mean `don't be critical' but rather criticize from an academic point of view. Thus, one doesn't want to say things like: `The idea of this paragraph is just silly.' Instead try to give helpful comments along the lines of: ``The argument begins well, but gets very fuzzy when you say X because I can imagine Y or Z.' Criticism may be about the content or, when important, on rhetorical aspects of the essay - that is, on the writing itself.

R. Port, Indiana University