The Philosophy of Mind



Overview

What is a mind? How is it different from a brain, if it is indeed different? How different is a brain from a computer, if it differs in any principled way? This course examines seminal issues relating to the mind-body problem (how do the mind and body relate, exactly?), as well as questions such as:

  • Can the natural sciences give a complete explanation or understanding of the mind or of consciousness?
  • Can we reconcile our ordinary intuitions about ourselves (like that our minds can cause our bodies to do things) with the natural sciences?
  • Can we create conscious machines?
  • How can we know that other people (or other animals) have minds?

Interrogating these questions will involve interdisciplinary insights from psychology, neuroscience and cognitive science, as well as other allied fields, but the approach and subject matter in this course will be distinctly philosophical.

This course is part of the Inspiring Oxford summer school programme, held at Brasenose College.

Programme details

Daily schedule

After registration on Sunday afternoon, we invite you to a welcome meeting in the Amersi Lecture Theatre in New Quad, where you will meet your tutors. Join us in Deer Park afterwards for our opening drinks reception, followed by dinner in Brasenose’s historic dining hall (informal dress).

Seminars take place on weekday mornings. Most afternoons are free, allowing you time to explore Oxford, enjoy a variety of optional social events (see details below), or to sit back and relax in one of the college's atmospheric quads.

Your course culminates on Friday evening with a closing drinks reception and gala farewell dinner at which Certificates of Attendance are awarded. For this special occasion smart dress is encouraged (no requirement to wear dinner suits or gowns).

Social programme 

We warmly invite all Inspiring Oxford students to take part in our optional social programme, with all events provided at no additional cost. Events are likely to include:

  • Croquet on the quad
  • Chauffeured punting from Magdalen Bridge
  • Expert-led walking tours of Oxford
  • Optional visit to an Oxford Library or the Ashmolean Museum
  • River Thames afternoon cruise
  • Quiz night in the college bar
  • Scottish country dance evening (where you do the dancing!)

Seminars

Monday

Dualism: Mind and Body

Today's seminars consider the mind-body problem and explore whether mental phenomena can exist independently of the physical world.

  • Is the mind something distinct from the physical body, or are they one and the same?
  • Are we immaterial 'ghosts' inhabiting physical forms?
  • If the mind is non-physical, how could it interact with the body, a physical system?
  • What does it mean for something immaterial to have causal power in a material world?

Tuesday

Behaviorism: The Observable Mind

Today we examine the behavioral turn in psychology and its implications for philosophy of mind.

  • If science seeks what is observable, can the mind be understood purely in terms of behavior?
  • Is mental activity reducible to what we can see, measure, or predict?
  • How do we make sense of words like 'belief,' 'pain,' or 'desire' if we deny inner mental states?
  • Can understanding behavior alone ever capture the full richness of conscious experience?

Wednesday

Physicalism and Identity Theory: The Mind as Brain

In today's seminars we investigate whether the natural sciences can provide a complete understanding of mental life.

  • Can the mind be fully explained by neuroscience?
  • Are mental states identical to brain states, or merely correlated with them?
  • Can subjective experiences like the feeling of pain or the colour red be reduced to physical processes?
  • Does a purely physical account of the mind leave anything out?

Thursday

Functionalism: The Mind as System

Today we explore the parallels and distinctions between brains and computers, and what they reveal about the nature of mentality.

  • Could the mind be defined not by its substance, but by its function?
  • Is the mind best understood as a kind of information processor or computational system?
  • Is biological makeup necessary for consciousness, or could a machine have a mind?
  • What does this view imply for the possibility of artificial intelligence and conscious machines?

Friday

Consciousness: The Hard Problem
 
In our final seminars we synthesise the week’s themes and return to the central philosophical challenge: understanding how and why subjective experience exists at all.
 
  • What is consciousness, and how does it fit into the natural world?
  • Can consciousness be explained through physical or functional accounts, or is it something fundamentally different?
  • Does consciousness play a causal role in our actions, or is it a byproduct of brain processes?
  • How can we know that other beings—human or non-human—are conscious?

Certification

Certificate of Attendance

At the end of the course you will receive a Certificate of Attendance.

Digital Certificate

You will also be issued with an official digital certificate of attendance. After the course, you will receive an email with a link and instructions on how to download it. You will be able to share this on social media and add to your email signature if you wish to do so.

Fees

Description Costs
Fee option 1 (single en suite accom and meals per person) £2625.00
Fee option 2 (single standard accom and meals per person) £2275.00
Fee option 3 (twin en suite accom and meals per person) £2435.00
Fee option 4 (no accom; incl lunch and dinner per person) £1855.00

Funding

Please note there are no sources of funding (scholarships, bursaries, etc) available for the Inspiring Oxford Summer School programme.

Payment

All fees are charged on a per week, per person basis

Included in the course fee:

  • Any included excursions (see programme details above) and the full optional social programme.
  • Breakfasts Monday-Saturday (residential guests only), five weekday lunches, and dinners Sunday-Friday. If your course includes a full-day field trip, a packed lunch is normally provided.
  • Morning refreshments and the welcome and closing drinks receptions.

Participants attending multiple weeks

Residential participants staying at Brasenose College for consecutive weeks may arrange an additional Saturday night bed-and-breakfast between courses, available for an additional fee. Please email inspiringoxford@conted.ox.ac.uk to arrange this.

Payment terms

  • If enrolling online: full payment by credit/debit card at the time of booking.
  • If submitting an enrolment form: full payment online by credit/debit card or via bank transfer within 30 days of invoice date.

Please be aware that all payments (and refunds) made via non-UK credit/debit cards and bank accounts are subject to the exchange rate on the day they are processed.

Course change administration fee

Please note that course transfers may be permitted in exceptional circumstances at the discretion of the Programme Administrator, up to 1 May 2026; however, in accordance with our terms and conditions for our open access courses, an administration fee of £50 will be charged.​

Cancellations and refunds

Please see the terms and conditions for our open-access courses.

The Department cannot be held responsible for any costs you may incur in relation to travel or accommodation bookings as a result of a course cancellation, or if you are unable to attend the course for any other reason. You are advised to check the terms and conditions carefully and to purchase travel insurance.

Tutor

Mr Ben Lang - Tutor

Ben Lang studied philosophy at Furman University for his undergraduate degree, before obtaining a Masters in Bioethics at New York University. Shortly afterwards, he spent several years working at Baylor College of Medicine on NIH and AHRQ-funded grants at the intersection of AI and Ethics in cardiology care. He is now in the final year of his PhD on the philisophy of Artificial Intelligence at the University of Oxford, a topic he has taught extensively through Oxford Lifelong Learning and across the central University.

Teaching methods

Participants will be taught in seminar groups of up to 16 people.

Teaching methods used during this course may include:

  • Short lectures/presentations
  • Physical handouts
  • Seminars/group discussions

Application

Registration closes on 29 May 2026 at 2pm BST (UK time).

If your preferred course is fully booked, you may wish to add yourself to the waiting list and the Programme Administrator will contact you should a place become available.

Online enrolment (single person accommodation and non-residential)

Single person accommodation and non-residential places should be booked online by clicking on the 'Book now' button at the top of this page. Please do not complete an enrolment form for these. 

If you have any trouble booking online, please contact the Programme Administrator by emailing inspiringoxford@conted.ox.ac.uk.

Online enrolments require payment in full at the time of registering.

Single bedroom options:

  • Single en suite: private bathroom facilities (shower, washbasin and toilet).
  • Standard single: private bedroom with shared bathroom facilities (typically shared among four participants).

Enrolment form (multi-occupancy or accessible accommodation)

Twin bedrooms

Those requiring a twin en-suite room (for two people) should complete an enrolment form as these rooms cannot be booked or requested online. Please note these rooms have limited availability. 

If requesting a twin room, each person should complete an enrolment form and name the other person who they wish to share a room with. 

Ground/lower floor accommodation

Brasenose rooms do not have lift access, and the higher rooms can be located up a few flights of stairs. If you need a room on a ground or lower floor please complete an enrolment form and indicate your requirements, or contact the Programme Administrator directly at inspiringoxford@conted.ox.ac.uk as soon as possible. 

Enrolment form

The enrolment form is an editable PDF and can be completed electronically, so you should not need to print and scan it. 

Completed forms should be sent:

  • by email to inspiringoxford@conted.ox.ac.uk, or

  • by post to Inspiring Oxford, Oxford Lifelong Learning, University of Oxford Department for Continuing Education, 1 Wellington Square, OXFORD, OX1 2JA, UK.

Level and demands

The Inspiring Oxford programme is aimed at non-specialists: no prior knowledge is required, and classes are pitched at an introductory level. Courses are designed for an international audience aged 18 and over.

There are no assessments for this course.

Accommodation

Residential options are outlined below.

Please see the 'application' section above for guidance on how to book or request the right accommodation for you, including how to request a lower/ground floor room.

The course fee includes breakfasts Monday-Saturday (residential guests only), five weekday lunches, and dinners Sunday-Friday. All meals included are served in Brasenose College's dining hall. If your course includes a full-day field trip, a packed lunch is normally provided.

Accommodation options at Brasenose

During your course, for an authentic Oxford University experience you can stay in typical student accommodation at Brasenose College, in the heart of the city in buildings overlooked by the iconic Radcliffe Camera. 

Please note that bedrooms are student rooms. They are simply and modestly-furnished and do not have air-conditioning. You can find out more about Brasenose and its facilities by visiting their website.

The following types of accommodation are available. 

  • Single en suite: private bathroom facilities (shower, washbasin and toilet).
  • Twin en suite: shared between participants that apply to the programme together, with private bathroom facilities.
  • Standard single: private bedroom with shared bathroom facilities (typically shared among four participants).

Non-residential option

Prefer not to stay on site? We also offer places on a non-residential basis whereby participants can take classes and have lunch and dinner at Brasenose College, having arranged their own accommodation elsewhere. Breakfast is not included.

Non-residential participants are warmly encouraged to take part in every aspect of the academic and social programme and enjoy the same access to Brasenose facilities as residential participants.

Participants attending multiple weeks

We welcome students who want to attend multiple Inspiring Oxford courses. Residential participants staying at Brasenose College for consecutive weeks may arrange an additional Saturday night bed-and-breakfast between courses, available for an additional fee. This option ensures a seamless and enjoyable stay in Oxford.

Accommodation before/after your course

We are unable to arrange accommodation at Brasenose College prior to or following your course. Please visit universityrooms.com if you require additional nights of bed and breakfast accommodation, and they may be able to assist.

Additionally, family or friends who are not enrolled in the programme cannot be accommodated in college. 

Terms & conditions for applicants and students

Information on financial support