PHILOSOPHY 4360 (001)
“Metaphysics”
(Spring Semester 2011)
Time: TR 3:30-4:45 pm
Room: HLMS 177
Professor: Carol Cleland
Office: HLMS 282 (EXT 2-7619)
Office Hours: M & W TR 10:30-12 pm & by appointment
Required Books:
Kim & Sosa (eds), Metaphysics: An Anthology.
Blackburn, "Metaphysics" (supplied over e-mail)
Requirements:
1. Class Discussions: You are expected to have read and thought about the material before coming to class. Informed participation in class discussions is expected of all students. Class participation is one of a number of factors (e.g., attendance, improvement over the course of the semester) that I use to determine a grade in borderline cases.
2. Evaluation: Your grade will be based upon 2 short papers and a term paper; there are no exams!
a. Short papers: Papers will be assigned the week before they are due. Each paper should consist of 3-4 typed, double-spaced (normal font) pages. The 2 short papers are worth approximately 40% of your final grade, with improvement counting heavily in your favor. Paper topics will be assigned on Feb 17 (due Feb 24) and March 31 (due April 7).
b. Term paper: A 7-10 page (typed, double-spaced, normal font) term paper is due on or before May 5. It may be an expansion of one of the short papers or on a completely new topic. The term paper is worth approximately 60% of your grade. There is no final exam.
Note: I do not automatically give make-up exams or accept late papers. If you believe that you have a good excuse, see me before the assignment is due. After the due date has passed, you will need a note from a physician or Dean.
Course Description:
This course is an introduction to contemporary analytic metaphysics. We begin by considering the development of the analytic traditional in metaphysics, and the ways in which it differs from older conceptions of metaphysics. We subsequently focus on the core questions of contemporary metaphysics: What kind of concept is expressed by "existence"? What sorts of things exist: What are the basic building blocks of reality? In exploring the latter question we will inquire after the nature of individuals (particulars), properties (universals), and possible objects (modalities). We will ask questions such as whether the number 2, the property of redness (considered independently of red things), and a unicorn (possible object) exist in the same sense as the book you are using for this class. We will also inquire about the basic cement of the universe: What holds together the fundamental entities making up reality into a coherent whole of familiar, interacting, complex objects of everyday experience? In this context, we will explore relations of identity, time, causation, reduction, supervenience, mechanism, and emergence? We will ask questions such as: Does causation involves a primitive concept of causal efficacy (power)? What makes an object or person existing at one time the same as an object or person existing at another time? What is the relation between actuality and possibility? Are mental events multiply realizable? Are some wholes greater than the sum of their parts?
