Our Focus in This Course Will Be the Study and Critical Examination Of

PHILOSOPHY 411 – METAPHYSICS CAL POLY, SAN LUIS OBISPO / FALL 2009

Professor Richard Graziano Contact info: [email protected] / 805.756.1221 Office / hours: Bldg. 47-34M / T 10-12:00pm, W 1-3:00pm, R 12:30-1:30pm, or by appointment Webpage: http://www.cla.calpoly.edu/~rgrazian/phil411.html

Course Description Our focus in this course will be the study and critical examination of central issues in contemporary analytic metaphysics, that branch of philosophy which attempts to describe the world in the most comprehensive manner at a very fundamental and abstract level. Some of the questions that we will likely consider: What is it for a thing to exist? What is the nature of things such as material objects? Do any things other than material objects—e.g., properties, events, numbers, possible worlds, etc.—exist, and if so, what is the nature of such things? What kind of changes can a physical object undergo and still remain the same physical object? What does it mean to say that a certain state of affairs is possible? Are there certain states of affairs that are possible, but not actual? What is the nature of time?

Course Goals By the end of the course, you will know and be able to: (a) State and explain various philosophical issues in contemporary analytic metaphysics, (b) State, explain and evaluate the varieties of leading metaphysical theories offered to understand explain those issues, (c) State, explain and evaluate varieties of arguments used to defend the leading metaphysical explanations and theories, and (d) Produce thoughtful, concise philosophical work that displays an understanding and ability to engage in contemporary analytic philosophy

Course Details Prerequisites: GE Area A & Phil 230 (These will be strictly enforced) Required Texts (Please bring the reading(s) assigned for a particular class to that meeting): • Theodore Sider, John Hawthorne and Dean Zimmerman, eds. Contemporary Debates in Metaphysics, (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2008). • Joshua Hoffman and Gary S. Rosenkrantz, Substance: Its Nature and Existence (NY: Routledge, 1997). • Jaegwon Kim and Ernest Sosa, eds. A Companion to Metaphysics (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 1995).

“Up-Front” Warning: You need to understand at the outset that the topics we will study are very difficult. As you know from experience, this is true of philosophy in general. It is unlikely that there is no subject in which this is more true than our topic. Metaphysics has been called the most abstract of all the sciences. As such, you will have to work hard to do well in this class; it is a mistake to expect this class to be a “grade booster” course. Of course, it is not impossibly difficult. You are more than capable of getting a good grade, but the course requires a great deal of reading, writing and thinking, and it is very unlikely that you will do well if you don’t do that work carefully.

Assignments. TBA

Attendance. Although I do not take attendance, I expect you to attend every class. Whether you do attend is a choice I leave up to you. You should know, however, that there is a strong correlation between attendance and pass/failure rates. Attendance does not guarantee that you will pass the course; it merely improves your odds for doing so.

- 1 - Participation & the Classroom Environment. I expect that you are prepared to participate in the discussion; you should be prepared for me to call upon you from time to time to answer questions or read a passage. Moreover, certain behaviors—e.g., chatting, doing work from other courses, playing around with a daily planner or cell phone, reading the newspaper, sleeping, etc.—are distracting and disrespectful to the people who are trying to concentrate on the material, and will not be tolerated. Those who don't feel like taking class meetings seriously should simply not come. If you need to leave early, please make sure to sit in a location that is close to the door so as to minimize distracting the class when you leave. Please turn off your cell phones prior to the start of each class meeting.

Academic Integrity. Academic integrity is a significant feature of responsibility, accountability and discipline which combined serve an important purpose in both an individual’s and the university community’s growth. I will not tolerate any instance or form of academic dishonesty—cheating, plagiarism or collusion, i.e., knowingly or intentionally helping another student to cheat or plagiarize. The penalty for any instance of academic dishonesty will be (i) a ‘F’ for the assignment and/or the course and (ii) will be reported to the department chair and Coordinator of Campus Student Relations and Judicial Affairs. If you have any questions or are unfamiliar with what constitutes acts of academic dishonesty, please see me or the university policy on academic integrity (C.A.M. §684 [available on-line: http://www.calpoly.edu/~acadsen/documents/Cheating&Plagiarism.html]) for definitions of ‘cheating’ and ‘plagiarism’. Special Accommodations. If you have a disability for which you will be requesting an accommodation, you are encouraged to contact the Disability Resource Center (Bldg. 124-119 / 805.756.1395) and provide me with the relevant documentation as early as possible in the term.

Course Schedule (Note well: this schedule is tentative and likely subject to revision) Date Topic / Reading Assignment Week 1 Contemporary analytic metaphysics: an introduction and overview 10/5 Reading(s) covered: Loux, “Introduction”‡; Van Inwagen, “Introduction”‡; Conee, “What is Metaphysics?”‡ 10/7 Being as such: the nature of existence Reading(s) covered: Rescher, “On Explaining Existence”‡ Weeks 2-3 Substance: it’s nature and existence 10/12-21 Reading(s) covered: HR, “Introduction” (pp.1-9); HR, Chp. 1, §1 (pp.9-17); HR, Chp. 1, §§2-4 (pp.17-43); HR, Chp. 2 (pp.43-73) Weeks 4-5 Mereology 10/26-11/4 Reading(s) covered: HR, Chp. 3 (pp.73-91); Chp. 5 (pp.150-88); Van Cleve, “The Moon & Sixpence: A Defense of Mereological Universalism,” (in SHZ, Chp. 8.1 [pp.319-40]); Markosian, “Restricted Composition,” (in SHZ, Chp. 8.2 [pp.341-63]) Weeks 6-8 The problem of universals and abstract entities 11/9-23 Reading(s) covered: Loux, “The Problem of Universals”‡; Russell, “The World of Universals”‡; Campbell, “The Metaphysic of Abstract Particulars”‡; Quine, “On What There Is”‡; Swoyer, “Abstract Entities” (in SHZ, Chp. 1.1 [pp.9-31]); Dorr, “There Are No Abstract Entities” (in SHZ, Chp. 1.2 [pp.32-65]) No class 11/11 (Veterans Day); 11/25 (Thanksgiving break) Week 9 Time 11/30-12/2 Reading(s) covered: Zimmerman, “The Priviledged Present” (in SHZ, Chp. 5.1 [pp.209-25]); Smart, “The Tenseless Theory of Time” (in SHZ, Chp. 5.2 [pp.226-39])

Abbreviations: HR = Joshua Hoffman and Gary S. Rosenkrantz, Substance: Its Nature and Existence. SHZ = Theodore Sider, John Hawthorne and Dean Zimmerman, eds. Contemporary Debates in Metaphysics.

Notes: 1. ‘‡’ means that the text is available on the course website (under Course Materials>Assignment Handouts) 2. A caveat: parts of this syllabus are subject to change at my discretion.

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