Metaphysics
Fall Term 2012-13
Tom Ryckman
Metaphysics, or First Philosophy, consists of a number of sub-areas. The main sub-area, Ontology, is the main topic of this course. Some of the readings are about Ontology—what it is and how it should be done. Other readings deal with our ontological commitments to certain kinds of entities. (Holes, propositions, fictional objects.) There are two outliers, one dealing with a puzzle for a fundamental principle of metaphysics and the other involving a puzzles about time.
Grade: Your grade is a function of your final exam and your “Thursday work.” I will lecture on Tuesdays. On Thursdays we will discuss Tuesday’s article and lecture, and you will take a quiz. The quizzes on Sept 27 and Oct 18 will be on Moodle; others might also be on Moodle. (Oct 18 is during Mid-term break, and I will not attend class on Sept 27.)
There is an additional assignment (and quiz). Professor Ned Markosian, Western Washington University, will be giving a Main Hall Forum on Oct 22 at 4:30 PM. It is required. (There will be two quizzes on Oct 25. One on Markosian’s presentation and the other on Yablo’s article.)
The exam is worth 50 points, and each of the quizzes is worth 5 points. I will drop (one of) your lowest quiz(zes).
(Except my paper, all readings are from the course textbook: Metaphysics: An Anthology, 2nd Edition, Kim, Korman, and Sosa (Eds.))
The Readings:
1. “On What There Is” (W. V. Quine).
2. “Empiricism, Semantics, and Ontology” (Rudolf Carnap).
3. “Holes” (David and Stephanie Lewis).
4. “Revised Factualism” (Tom Ryckman)
5. “Beyond Being and Nonbeing” (Roderick Chisholm).
6. “Is Time Travel Possible?” (Ned Markosian)
6. “Does Ontology Rest on a Mistake?” (Stephen Yablo).
7. “Fictional Objects” (Amie Thomasson).
8. “On What Grounds What” (Jonathan Schaffer).
9. “The Identity of Indiscernibles” (Max Black)