Metaphysics

PHIL3903 [PH39C]: First Semester 2004/5

You can contact me at ebrandon@uwichill.edu.bb, or by phone to 417 4023 (if that gets no answer, leave a message at 417 4021).

The following crude list gives the topics, with references to Loux's book, that we shall be dealing with at each lecture.

week lecture                      

week 1 - 1  Introduction to the Course (Loux Introduction)

             2  How is metaphysics possible?

week 2 - 1  Plato and Aristotle (Loux Introduction)

             2  The Kantian and other critiques of rationalist metaphysics

week 3 - 1  Universals 1 (Loux chapter 1)

             2  Universals 2

week 4 - 1  Universals 3 (Loux chapter 2)

             2  Universals 4

week 5 - 1  Substances 1 (Loux chapter 3)

            2   Substances 2 

week 6 - 1  Propositions  (Loux chapter 4 and 7)

            2   Numbers

week 7 - 1   Facts, States of Affairs, Events 1 (Loux chapter 4)

            2    Events 2

week 8 - 1   Modality 1 (Loux chapter 5)

            2    Modality 2

week 9 - 1  Causation 1

            2   Causation 2

week 10 - 1  Dispositions 1

            2    Dispositions 2

week 11 - 1  Persistence through time 1 (Loux chapter 6)

            2     Persistence through time 2

week 12 - 1  Absolute and Relational Theories of Space and Time 1 

            2    Theories of time and space-time 2

week 13 - 1  Revision 1

            2    Revision 2

Coursework

Your coursework consists of two elements: an essay (c. 2500 words) which will receive 30% of the marks and your contribution to the tutorials (10%).

For the essays, see here.

For the tutorials, see here.  You should do the reading for all the tutorials.  I want you in addition to prepare a presentation on one of them.  It is this presentation (written up, a couple of pages, note form) that will be marked.

Exam

As usual, the exam will count for 60% of your overall marks.  You can see what the exam will look like from that for the 2002/03 version of the course.

Books

The prescribed text is:

Loux, M.J. Metaphysics: A Contemporary Introduction.

That text (1st, not 2nd edition, so it doesn't have chapter 7) is on overnight reserve in the Library, along with:

Lowe, E.J. A Survey of Metaphysics

Mackie, J.L. Problems from Locke

McGinn, C. Logical Properties: Identity, Existence, Predication, Necessity, Truth

Strawson, P.F. Individuals

There is a brief summary of Loux's book at a site here.

Links

Episteme's pages of Encyclopedia entries in the area.  The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP) is highly recommended - I give several links to individual articles below.

Cian Dorr has several courses in metaphysics with quite a lot of lecture notes etc. (pdf files).  There are also links to some of his articles.

Eric Funkhouser has a course on Metaphysics.

Jim Pryor has an introductory course, but it doesn't share much ground with ours.  Tim Black has another course that goes off into philosophy of mind as well.

Norman Swartz has put the second edition of his book, Beyond Experience: Metaphysical Theories and Philosophical Constraints on-line.  And another relevant book, The Concept of Physical Law.

John Post has put some sections of his book, Metaphysics: A Contemporary Introduction on-line.

Other papers you should read:

All the following are on your diskette.  You should read and re-read them, to get a feel for the area as well as for their particular concerns.

Other sites you might check:

The following list gives links by general topic in the order we are moving through Loux's book.

For universals, metaphysical realism, nominalism, theories of properties:

D.M. Armstrong, 'Four Disputes about Properties'

Nick Zangwill, 'Negative Properties, Determination and Conditionals'

B. Aune (2000), 'Universals and Predication'

C.D. Broad (1919), 'Reality' 

F.P. Ramsey (1925), 'Universals' Mind.

Mark Balaguer (2004), 'Platonism in Metaphysics' (SEP)

Chris Swoyer (1999), 'Properties' (SEP)

John Bacon (1997), 'Tropes' (SEP)

For concrete particulars, substances, substratum:

Henry Laycock (2002), 'Object' (SEP)

C.D. Broad's 1949 discussion of Leibniz is in a similar ball-park

For propositions and other abstract objects:

Gideon Rosen (2001), 'Abstract Objects' (SEP)

T. Wetzel (2003), 'States of Affairs' (SEP)

For events: 

Fabio Pianesi and Achille C. Varzi (2002), 'Events' (SEP), (2000) 'Events and Event-talk: An Introduction'

 

For modality:

Jim Pryor has some lecture notes

Nolan on 'modal fictionalism' (SEP)

For causation:

Schaffer on the metaphysics of causation in the Stanford Encyclopedia, which connects with several other discussions there

Menzies has several papers in .pdf format

Hartry Field has a good survey (pdf) - this is also on your diskette

Dan Hausman has posted a chapter of his book that provides a discussion of Hume's view (pdf)

There is a summary with comments of Mackie's book on causation, and of Lewis' position; here is a list of the whole lot of summaries by Alfred Freddoso

[A sub-field of causation concerns agent-causation:

Daniel von Wachter, Agent Causation: Before and After the Ontological Turn

George Wilson on Action in the Stanford Encyclopedia

(At something of a tangent to our interests, but with a lot of very good stuff, is Ted Honderich's website on determinism and freedom)]

For laws:

Stephen Mumford, 'Laws and Lawlessness'

J. Carroll (2003), 'Laws of Nature' (SEP)

For dispositions:

Ian Thompson has a section of a book on issues relating to the status of dispositions

For persistence/endurance:

Balashov, 'Relativistic Objects' Noûs 33 (1999): 644-662

Oakes, 'Causal Realism and the Structure of the Perdurance Series'

Sider, 'Four Dimensionalism', The Philosophical Review 106 (1997): 197-231.  (You can read almost everything Sider has published by checking his site.)

Weatherson, 'Growing Individuals and Temporary Intrinsics'

K. Hawley (2004), 'Temporal Parts' (SEP)

For parts and constitution:

Baker holds a discussion of her book, Persons and Bodies: A Constitution View

Weatherson has a review of Wiggins, and also B. Weatherson (2003), 'The Problem of the Many' (SEP)

Salsbury, 'Van Inwagen and Gunk: A Response to Sider' Sorites 7: 21-27

For time and space-time:

McTaggart's own argument "The Unreality of Time"

Ned Markosian, How Fast does Time Pass? (pdf)

Steven Savitt (Stanford Encyclopedia) Being and Becoming in Modern Physics

Soshichi Uchii, McTaggart on the Unreality of Time (his entire set of notes on Space-Time may be useful)

anonymous On the Existence of Time

anonymous (Otago University) McTaggart’s Proof of the Unreality of Time
(Google cache) and part 2

Pooley Lectures on philosophy of time

R. Gale (1968), 'The Static versus the Dynamic Temporal'

Janis in Stanford Encyclopedia on Conventionality of Simultaneity

Price, Lecture on space and time (pdf)

Other topics that we may or may not touch upon in lectures or tutorials:

For existence:

Barry Smith in SEP 'Existence'

An enormous Formal Ontology site of which this exploration of the vocabulary of being is a part.

For incongruent counterparts:

Oliver Pooley (2001) Handedness, parity violation, and the reality of space (link is to an abstract from where you can get the whole paper in pdf)

Huggett has some skeletal lecture notes

anonymous, Extended Simples, Space, and Shape

There are some sites dealing with Vagueness:

The Stanford Encyclopedia has an article by Sorenson (it also has an article on the Sorites)

A recent PhD student, Needle, has an amazingly comprehensive site with lots of links to articles and abstracts

Brian Weatherson has several things on his site and also:

B. Weatherson (2003), 'The Problem of the Many' (SEP)

© Ed Brandon (January 2003)

Last revision 29 November 2004