PHIL 3330
Metaphysics

Fall, 2007
Curtis Brown

Metaphysics is concerned with very general questions about the nature of reality, such as: What kinds of things exist? (Do numbers exist? Minds? Properties? God?) Why does anything exist? What is the relation between mind and body? Is it possible to act freely? We will consider contemporary views on these and related issues.

We will be trying out Trinity's experimental courseware, TLEARN, at http://tlearn.trinity.edu/. If you are enrolled in the class, you should be able to log on using your university username and password, and then access all course materials, participate in forums, etc. If you have any trouble with this, let me know right away!

TR 8:30 - 10:30; MW 2:30 - 3:30. (I am usually in my office during office hours, but sometimes other commitments interfere; if you want to be certain I will be there, make an appointment with me. Other times can also be arranged by appointment.)

Peter van Inwagen, Metaphysics, Second Edition (Boulder: Westview, 2002)

Peter van Inwagen and Dean W. Zimmerman, ed., Metaphysics: The Big Questions (Oxford: Blackwell, 1998)

1. There will be a mid-term examination, tentatively scheduled for Friday, October 11. This exam will contain questions on the terminology and basic ideas of the readings, and longer essay questions asking you to evaluate and compare the readings. The mid-term will count 25% of the final grade.

2. One substantial paper, of 10-15 pages, is due Friday, November 16. The paper should include discussion of some of the readings for the course, and should also reflect outside research on your topic; I will give you a longer handout about it soon. I will ask you to give an oral presentation to the class on the topic of the paper during the latter part of the semester. The paper will count a total of 30% of the final grade. I will accept late papers, but the grade will be dropped one notch (e.g. from a B to a B- or from a B- to a C+) for every week day the paper is late. A paper proposal is due prior to spring break (i.e. by Friday, March 11).

3. There will be a final exam on Tuesday, December 11, at 8:30 AM. The final will count 30% of the final grade.

5. Attendance and participation will count 15% of the final grade. This portion of the grade will be based on attendance and participation in class; participation in class fora on the TLEARN site; class presentations; and other short assignments. In particular, every week before the class period begins on Monday, I will expect you to contribute (at least) one substantive posting to that week's online forum concerning the reading for that week. This posting should specifically discuss some aspect of the reading for that week, by doing one or more of the following: offering an interpretation of the reading, posing a critical challenge to the reading, or comparing the position taken in the reading to other materials we have discussed in class. Use page numbers when referring to specific ideas or arguments in the text. In addition, every week, any time before class begins on Friday, I will expect you to contribute a response to at least one other student's posting in the relevant forum. Missing one required posting will not hurt your grade; after that, your participation grade will be reduced by one letter grade for each required posting you miss. (So if you miss two, the highest grade you can get on this portion of the final grade is a B; if you miss three, a C; etc.) Important note: Although in general participation counts 15% of the grade, excessive absence is grounds for a failing grade in the course, not just on this portion of the final grade.

All students are covered by a policy that prohibits dishonesty in academic work. Students who entered Trinity prior to the fall of 2004 are governed by the Academic Integrity Policy (AIP), while students who entered in the fall of 2004 or later (this year that should be most or all of you) are governed by the Academic Honor Code.

What counts as a violation of academic integrity is the same regardless of which policy you are governed by. The difference lies in the procedures for determining whether a violation has occurred and if so what the penalty will be. Under the Integrity Policy, the faculty member determines whether a violation has occurred as well as the punishment for the violation (if any) within certain guidelines. Under the Code, a faculty member will (or a student may) report an alleged violation to the Academic Honor Council. It is the task of the Council to investigate, adjudicate, and assign a punishment within certain guidelines if a violation has been verified.

Students who are under the Honor Code are required to pledge all written work that is submitted for a grade by writing, on the submitted work: “On my honor, I have neither given nor received any unauthorized assistance on this work,” followed by their signature. The pledge may be abbreviated “pledged” with a signature. For more details see the Honor Code web site.

You should be aware that I take academic integrity very seriously. Do not use any material you did not write yourself verbatim without enclosing it in quotation marks and giving a citation to the source. (This goes for individual sentences as well as larger chunks of prose.) Do not use close paraphrases of material you did not write yourself, period. Be aware that plagiarism is easier to detect than you might think. Other actions that violate academic integrity are listed in the "violations" section of the Honor Code website (the same description of violations also holds for the Academic Integrity Policy).

I. What is Metaphysics?

van Inwagen, Chapter 1 ("Introduction")

II Fundamental Ontology (Universals and Particulars)

van Inwagen, Chapter 2 ("Individuality")
Big Questions, Chapters 1-4

III Externality and Objectivity

van Inwagen, Chapters 3 ("Externality") and 5 ("Objectivity")

IV Time

van  Inwagen, Chapter 4 ("Temporality")
Big Questions, Chapters 5-17

V Persistence through Change

Big Questions, Chapters 18-25

VI God

van Inwagen, Chapters 6 ("Necessary Being: The Ontological Argument") and 7 ("Necessary Being: The Cosmological Argument")
Big Questions, Chapters 48-53

VII Teleology

van Inwagen, Chapters 8 ("What Rational Beings Are There?") and 9 ("The Place of Rational Beings in the World: Design and Purpose")

VIII Dualism, Physicalism, and Personal Identity

van Inwagen, Chapter 10 ("The Nature of Rational Beings: Dualism and Physicalism")
van Inwagen, Chapter 11 ("The Nature of Rational Beings: Dualism and Personal Identity")
Big Questions, Chapters 34-38

IX Free Will

van Inwagen, Chapter 12 ("The Powers of Rational Beings: Freedom of the Will")
Big Questions, Chapters 39-42

X Computation

XI Challenges to Metaphysics

Big Questions, Chapters 43-56