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Consciousness: From Philosophy to Neuroscience (University of Zurich)
Last Updated: 2026-02-05 15:36:20
Abstract
This seminar reviews the philosophical and phenomenological as well as the neurobiological aspects of consciousness. The subjective features of consciousness are explored, and modern research into its neural substrate, particularly in the visual domain, is explained. Emphasis is placed on students developing their own thinking through a discussion-centered course structure.
Objective
The course's goal is to give an overview of the contemporary state of consciousness research, with emphasis on the contributions brought by modern cognitive neuroscience. We aim to clarify concepts, explain their philosophical and scientific backgrounds, and to present experimental protocols that shed light on on a variety of consciousness related issues.
Content
The course includes discussions of scientific as well as philosophical articles. We review current schools of thought, models of consciousness, and proposals for the neural correlate of consciousness (NCC).
Resources
Lecture Notes
None
Literature
We display articles pertaining to the issues we cover in the class on the course's webpage.
Learning Materials (Links)
- Main link
- Information
General Information
- Language
- English
- Levels
- MSC
- Frequency
- Yearly recurring
Examination
- Type
- graded semester performance
Course Components
| Type | Title | Time & Place | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| lecture |
Consciousness: From Philosophy to Neuroscience (University of Zurich)
**Course at University of Zurich**
Location: please see VVZ UZH
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2 h weekly |
Offered In
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Elective Major: Neurosciences (The major in Neurosciences in the Master program Biology ETHZ will no longer be offered from autumn 2019 onwards.)
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General Electives (Students may choose General Electives from the entire course programme of ETH Zurich - with the following restrictions: courses that belong to the first or second year of a Bachelor curriculum at ETH Zurich as well as courses from GESS "Science in Perspective" are not eligible here. The following courses are explicitly recommended to physics students by their lecturers. (Courses in this list may be assigned to the category "General Electives" directly in myStudies. For the category assignment of other eligible courses keep the choice "no category" and take contact with the Study Administration ( ) after having received the credits.))
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