PHL3690 Metaphysics
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Handbook entry- a brief description of the subject can be found in the handbook entry. The handbook also provides information about the unit leader, the semester and mode in which the unit is available, the contact hours and the assessment requirements.
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MUSO site - there is a WebCT site for this unit where assessment tasks, lecture notes and other unit resources will be posted. Once enrolled, students taking this unit are advised to check the WebCT site regularly.
Subject description:
The course will explore ways in which ancient Platonic and Aristotelian debates about "universals" have taken a new turn over the last two centuries, particularly as a consequence of advances in mathematics, logic and the philosophy of language. Students will be introduced to the concerns of "nominalists", and of "realists" of the kind represented by the American philosopher W.V. Quine, and of "realists" of the very different kind represented by the Australian philosopher D.M. Armstrong. With these tools to work with, students will explore issues in the metaphysics of time, of possibility and necessity, and of the abstract entities discussed in pure mathematics. This will acquaint students with the recent re-emergence of metaphysical research after critiques, descending from Kant, permeating the logical positivism and other anti-metaphysical traditions that dominated philosophy in the twentieth century.
What is the value of studying this subject?
The course aims to equip students to engage with debates at the cutting edge in contemporary metaphysics. The course will develop skills in close reading of landmark texts in recent metaphysics. The course will also develop a student's understanding of the way that contemporary issues have emerged historically, the ways they echo lasting concerns from the time of Plato and Aristotle, and the ways they have been shaped by the critiques of metaphysics descending from Kant.