PHIL 181: METAPHYSICS
SPRING 2006
MWF 10:00-10:50
AMD-263
PROF. THOMAS PYNE MND-3032 278-7288
E-Mail pynetf@csus.edu
PHILOSOPHY DEPT. MND-3032 278-6424
FAX
278-5364
OFFICE HOURS: M
11:00-12:00; W 3:00-4:00; By Appt.
OBJECTIVES:
The course is designed to give
a systematic introduction to philosophical problems that are metaphysical; to show what distinguishes metaphysical
problems from other philosophical problems.
We will then investigate a
restricted sampling of metaphysical problems which are under active
investigation in the present.
This investigation will involve
study of contributions to the solution of metaphysical problems by contemporary philosophers.
Finally, the course will
require some metaphysical investigation by the student, as well as some
writing.
TEXT: Peter
van Inwagen & Dean W. Zimmerman, editors.
Metaphysics: The Big Questions. Basil Blackwell (
Metaphysics
Tookit
ASSIGNMENTS:
Two
exams at assigned times (15% each)
A final exam
(15%)
Three
papers: Paper 1 & 2, 4 pages (15%
each); paper 3, 7-10 pages (20%).
PHIL 181: Metaphysics is the department-designated
class for information competency assessment of Philosophy majors. Thus there will be assignments designed to
assess your ability to use information resources like the library resources,
databases, reference works, etc.
POLICIES:
Class
Meetings
I expect attendance at every class meeting. If for some excellent reason you cannot make class, let me know – preferably in advance. If this is impossible let me know by 5:00 on the day you miss. I will lower you a grade increment for every unexcused absence.
Class meetings will begin at 10:00 with a calling of the roll. Be on time. Anticipate. Excuses don’t cut it: I will treat a pattern of late arrival as an unexcused absence.
I expect silent attention during class periods. If there is a class discussion I will serve
as moderator; please wait to be
recognized before making a contribution.
If you wish to ask a question, answer a question, or make
a contribution to the class, please ask to be recognized. There is no excuse for conducting a private
discussion during class time. I will
treat a pattern of talking in class as an unexcused absence.
Reading
Assignments
You will be responsible for the entirety of all readings
assigned. However, at times I will
indicate that I will pay particular attention to some part of a reading. As a result, it may happen that other parts
of the reading will not be treated in class. You will be responsible for them
anyway. If you don’t understand
something, ask a question. Remember,
students’ questions help me too.
Exams
Exams will be administered on the date and time scheduled
in the syllabus (unless I change it for pedagogical reasons). I will allow you a one-page "cheat
sheet" for each exam.
We will review the material for
each exam briefly during the class preceding, explaining what concepts and
abilities the exam will test for. I welcome questions, even at times outside
that review period.
There will be no makeup exams. Organize your life so that you can take the
exams at the times and dates indicated.
Papers
Follow the directions for
argumentative papers found in the “Guidelines for Writing Philosophy Papers” at
the Philosophy Department website. Go to
the Main Page (http://www.csus.edu/phil), click on “Dept. Program and
Requirements,” then click on “Guidelines…”
Or go directly to:
http://www.csus.edu/phil/req/writing.htm
Papers will be graded according
to the “Grading Guidlines for Philosophy Papers.” Go to the same menu as for the paper
guidelines, or go directly to:
http://www.csus.edu/phil/req/grading.htm
To submit papers:
- Turn in
at the class period on the due date;
- FAX or E-mail;
- Old-fashioned
mail, making sure it arrives on time;
- Turn in at
the Philosophy Department office
(MND-3032)
by 5:00.
Late papers will be lowered a
grade increment for every day past the due date.
Keep a copy of your paper. If you still use an iron-age typewriter, make
a photocopy -- it's cheap insurance. Two
reasons for this:
(i) It’s cheap insurance in case you paper is
lost. This happens from time to time.
(ii) In cases where I suspect plagiarism I have no
intention of scouring the library or googling the original. If I think you’ve plagiarized, the burden of
proof will be on you. You can sustain
that burden by showing me the work you did preparing the paper: notes, early drafts, etc. Keep
what you need to show me that it’s your work.
Grades
Exams will be graded on the
following scale:
A 100-94
A- 93-92
B+ 91-90
B 89-84
B- 83-82
C+ 81-80
C 79-74
C- 73-72
D+ 71-70
D 69-64
D- 63-62
F 61-
Papers will be graded by the
criteria in “Grading Guidelines for Philosophy Papers”.
Quizzes will be given a grade
of 2 (good or adequate), 1 (inadequate), or 0 (not turned in.) You have
to bepresent at a class meeting to take a quiz.
An average above 1.5 will
give you 100 for that component (5%) of your final grade.
The course grade will be
determined by the weighted average of the exams and papers.
SYLLABUS
[Page
numbers refer to Text]
Introduction: Metaphysical
Questions Among Philosophical Questions
What we are supplying are really remarks on
the natural history of human beings; we
are not contributing curiosities however, but observations which no one has
doubted, but which have escaped remark only because they are always before our
eyes.
Wittgenstein, Philosophical
Investigations
Week 1: 1/23 What is a Philosophical Question? Which Philosophical Questions are Metaphysical?
[Metaphysics Toolkit; Van Inwagen & Zimmerman, “Introduction,”
1-7)
1/25 Metaphysical
Questions (cont.)
1/27 Metaphysical
Answers
Part I: The Nature of Space
and Time
6.4312. The solution of the riddle of life in space
and time lies outside space and time.
Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus
Week 2: 1/30 The Earliest Metaphysicians: Parmenides and Zeno
[Lecture]
2/1 Is
Space Discrete or Continuous?
[Max Black, “Achilles and the
Tortoise,” 120-9]
2/3 Can
Anything Concrete Actually Be Infinite?
[Wesley Salmon, “A Contemporary Look at Zeno’s Paradoxes,” 129-149]
Space
Week 3: 2/6 Is Space Substantial or Relational?
[Martin Gardner, “The Fourth Dimension,” 108-111]
2/8 Is Space Three-Dimensional?
[James Van Cleve, “Incongruent
Counterparts and Higher Dimensions,”
111-120]
2/10 What Must Be in the World for Anything to
be “Left” or “Right” of Anything Else?
Time
Week 4: 2/13 The Unreality of
Time
[J.M.E.
McTaggart, from The Nature of Existence,
67-74]
2/15 McTaggart (cont.)
2/17 Objections to McTaggart’s Argument
[C.D. Broad, “McTaggart’s Arguments…,” 74-79]
Paper #1 due Friday, February 17.
Week 5: 2/20 Is There
Anything Special About the Present?
[A.N.
Prior, “The Notion of the Present,” 80-82;
C.D. Broad, from Scientific
Thought, 82-93]
2/22 A
Tenseless World
[J.J.C.
Smart, from Philosophy and Scientific
Realism, 94-101; Ian Hinckfuss,
“Topis, Soris, Noris,” from The Existence of Space and Time, 101-3]
2/24 “Thank
heavens, That’s Over!”
[A.N.
Prior, “Some Free Thinking About Time,”
104-7]
Part II: The Furniture of
Reality
1.1 The world is the totality of facts, not of
things
Wittgenstein, Tractatus
Logic-Philosophicus
Universals
Week 6: 2/27 Exam
#1
3/1 The
Problem of Universals: Universalia ante Res; Universalia
in Rebus
[Metaphysics Toolkit; Van Inwagen & Zimmerman, Introduction,
7-13 )
3/3 Nominalism and Other Forms of Reduction
[Lecture]
Week 7: 3/6 Resemblance vs.
Universalia in Rebus
(H.H. Price, “Universals and
Resemblances,” from Thinking and Experience,
23-40]
3/8 Tropes
[D.C. Williams, “The Elements of
Being,” 40-52]
3/10 Tropes
(Cont.)
[“The Elements of Being”]
Week 8: 3/13-3/17 Spring Recess
Particulars
Week 9: 3/20 The “Problem of
Individuals”
[Bertrand Russell, “The Principle of
Individuation,” 52-58]
3/22 Leibniz’s
Principle (cont.)
[Max
Black, “The Identity of Indiscernibles” (Copy)]
3/24 Leibniz’s Principle and the Two Spheres Problem (Cont.)
Week 10: 3/27 The Two Spheres Problem (Cont.)
3/29 The Two Spheres Problem Updated
[Dean
Zimmerman, “Distinct Indiscernibles and the Bundle Theory,” 58-66]
3/31 Cesar Chavez Birthday
Part III: Identity
6.371 The whole modern conception of the world
is founded on the illusion that the so-called laws of nature are the
explanations of natural phenomena.
Wittgenstein, Tractatus
Logico-Philosophicus
Week 11: 4/3 The Ship of
Theseus: What is Persistence?
[Antoine Arnauld and Pierre Nicole, “Of Confused Subjects which are Equivalent to Two Subjects…,” 171-173; Roderick Chisolm, “Identity through Time,” 173-185]
4/5 Mereological
Essentialism
[Chisolm, cont.]
Paper #2 due: Wednesday, April
5.
4/7 Four-Dimensional
“Time Slices”
[W.V.O.
Quine, “Identity, Ostension, and Hypostasis,” 186-188; W.V.O. Quine, “Identity,” from Quiddities, 188-190; David Lewis, “In Defense of Stages,” 190-2]
Week 12: 4/10 “Babies’ legs on one end and old-people’s
legs on the other”: Tralfamadorian
Ontology (Cont.)
[David
Lewis, “The Problem of Temporary Intrinsics,” from On The Plurality of Worlds, 204-6]
4/12 Criticisms of the 4-D Ontology I
[Peter Geach, “Some Problems About Time,” 192-204]
4/14
The Ontological Importance of the
Present
[Dean Zimmerman, “Temporary Intrinsics and Presentism,”
206-219]
Persons
5.632 The subject does not belong to the
world: rather, it is a limit of the
world.
Wittgenstein, Tractatus
Logico-Philosophicus
Week 13: 4/17 Exam
#2
4/19 Identity of Persons: Physicalism
[Roderick
Chisolm, “Which Physical Thing Am I?”
291-296; Sydney Shoemaker, “Personal
Identity: A Materialist Account,” 296-310]
4/21 The
Unity of Consciousness
[Derek Parfit, “Divided Minds and
the Nature of Persons,” 310-17]
Week 14: 4/24 Bodies and Souls
[Richard Swinburne, “Personal Identity: The Dualist Theory,” 317-333]
4/26 The Recalcitrance of the Problem
[David Chalmers, “The Puzzle of Conscious Experience,” 333-341.]
Part IV: Realism and
Anti-Realism
4.2211 Even if the world is infinitely complex, so that every fact consists of infinitely
many states of affairs and every state of affairs is composed of infinitely
many objects, even so there must be objects and states of affairs.
Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus
You can’t get behind the rules, because
there isn’t any behind.
Wittgenstein,
Philosophical Grammar
4/28 What
is Realism?
[Lecture]
Week 15: 5/1 The Inscrutability of Reference and
Ontological
Relativity
[W.V.O. Quine, “Speaking of
Objects,” 385-388]
5/3 Putnam’s ‘Internal’
Realism
[Hilary Putnam, “After Metaphysics, What?” 388-392; Hilary Putnam, “Truth and Convention,” 392-399]
5/5 Conceptual Relativism
[Ernest Sosa,
“Nonabsolute Existence and Conceptual Relativity,” 399-407; Ernest Sosa, “Addendum…,” 407-410]
Week 16: 5/8 “Just More Metaphysics”
5/10 What about Good Old Aristotelian Hylomorphism?
5/12 Concluding Thoughts
Paper #3 due: Friday, May 12.
Final Exam: Monday, May 15,
10:15-12:15
PAPER TOPICS
Paper #1 (4 pages): Due Friday, February 17.
Given what we have discussed in
metaphysics class thus far…
Choose an entity (or kind of entity)* which is
widely believed to exist, but which you discountenance.
The paper should consider the
following points:
a)
Why do some people countenance it? That is, what role does it play in their
ontology? (No disparaging psychological
remarks: give their reasons.
b)
Why do you not accept it? Give your argument for its nonexistence.
c)
On your account, what takes its place, or plays
its role in your ontology. (Alternatively, explain why nothing need play
that role.)
d)
Where did the believers go wrong? What motivates your superior view of the
matter?
(*Not Santa Claus, UFOs,
Bigfoot, or anything like that. They don’t raise metaphysical problems.)
Paper #2 (4 pages): Due
Wednesday, April 5.
Give your account of Max
Black’s “Two Spheres” problem presented in his essay, “The Identity of Indiscernibles”
and updated in Zimmerman’s “Distinct Indiscernibles and the Bundle Theory.”
Within the constraints of the
thought experiment, comment in particular on the following questions:
a. How
does a relationalist with regard to space conceive of the situation?
b. How can
a substantialist with regard to space conceive of the situation differently?
c. Could
the sphere(s) be distinguished by any modal, temporal, indexical, or frame- referential properties?
d. Which
is more coherent, in your view? That
there are two spheres, or just one in a universe very different from our own
(in metaphysically possible ways) possessing a space with some interesting
properties? Justify your answer.
Paper # 3 (7-10
pages): Due Friday, May 12.
Take on a metaphysical problem
of your choice. It doesn’t have to be
one we’ve studied in class.
Clear your topic with me first.