PHIL364: Metaphysics

Harjit Bhogal

 

Course Summary

This class will be an introduction to metaphysics. But instead of surveying many different topics we will go into depth on a few topics in order to get a feel for how genuine philosophical debate on these topics go.

We will start by focusing on the nature of time – whether non-present times exist; whether one time, the present, is special; whether time travel is possible etc.. Then we will move on to related questions about the nature of objects for example, how do objects persist through time? and do they have temporal parts in same way that they have spatial parts? And we will extend this to consider how we, as humans persist through time – what makes you the same person as you were 10 years ago.

By the end of this course you should have gained understanding of how we can develop different metaphysical pictures of the world, and the types of arguments we can give for and against them. Further, you should improve your ability to analyze complex philosophical arguments, and to develop and express arguments of your own.

Course Information

Instructor Harjit Bhogal Class Room LEF 1201 Class Time Tue/Thu 12:30-1:45pm

Office Hours Friday 9-11am on Zoom, or by appointment Zoom ID 663 599 6109 Email bhogal@umd.edu

Texts

There is one required text, A Dialogue on Personal Identity and Immortality by John Perry. The other readings with be posted on ELMS/linked to from here.

Assignments

  1. 3 in-class writing assignments: worth 15%, 15% and 30% respectively

  2. Participation: 15%

  3. Final Exam: 25%

The writing assignments will be on 10/9, 10/30, 12/2, and 12/4. (The third in-class assigment will be two sessions long.) We will have one practice writing assignment (which does not count towards your grade) on 9/23 followed by a review session about that practice assignment on 9/25.

Each of the assignments, and the final exam, will be done via lockdown browser or will be handwritten.

Participation

Class participation is designed to measure evidence that you have done, and thought about, the reading and the topic more generally. Coming to class ready to engage with the material is most relevant for the participation grade. To be clear, you don't need to be loud, or constantly talking in class to get an A on class participation, but some contribution and engagement is required.

Other forms of engagement with me about the material, e.g. in office hours, can count towards participation.

Final Exam

The final exam is Friday, December 19 4pm-6pm. It will be a short answer exam. There are 10 questions but you'll only have to answer 5. You should write around 2 medium paras for each question.

Grading

Here are the grade ranges: A+: 100-96.67, A: 96.66-93.34, A-: 93.33-90

B+: 90-86.67, B: 86.66-83.34, B-: 83.33-80

C+: 80-76.67, C: 76.66-73.34, C-: 73.33-70

D+: 70-66.67, D: 66.66-63.34, D-: 63.33-60

Written assignments/the final exam will be graded along 4 dimensions

  1. Clarity This is clarity both in the small-scale -- It's clear what your sentences mean and how they fit together -- and on the large-scale, it's clear what the point of your paper is how you argue for that point.

  2. Accuracy The paper should be accurate in its discussion of the relevant philosophical topics, the terminology, the relevant literature, etc.

  3. Reasoning The paper should provide plausible reasons for its conclusion, avoiding logical errors and avoiding mere rhetoric.

  4. Originality This doesn't mean that you have to develop a view that no one else has ever thought of -- in fact, it will probably be a bad idea to do that. Rather, it's to do with there being some evidence that you've developed ideas about the issues independently. Giving a new, improved version of an objection we considered counts as originality, as does setting up and presenting the issues in a new way. Of course, though, originality doesn't count for much if you don't also do well on the earlier dimensions -- an original, but inaccurate paper is not good. You can get an A with very little originality, as long as you do very well on the previous dimensions.

Policies

Policies relevant to Undergraduate Courses are found here. Topics that are addressed in these various policies include academic integrity, student and instructor conduct, accessibility and accommodations, attendance and excused absences, grades and appeals, copyright and intellectual property.

Late assignments will be penalized a third of a letter grade, that's 3.33 points, for each day late, starting as soon as the deadline passes. Weekend days count.

The use of AI writing tools like ChatGPT is not allowed.

Schedule

9/2 No Reading

Unit 1: The Metaphysics of Time

9/4 Introduction to TimeEmery, Markosian and Sullivan, Time (in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) (sections 5-10)

9/9 Presentism vs EternalismZimmerman, The Privileged Present

9/11 NO CLASS

9/16 Arguments for A-theoryZimmerman, continued

9/18 A-theory and ExperiencePaul, Temporal Experience

9/23 Practice in-class written assignment

9/25 Writing assignment review session

9/30 Time TravelLewis, The Paradoxes of Time Travel

10/2 Time TravelLewis, The Paradoxes of Time Travel, continued

10/7 Time Travel 2Vihvelin, What Time Travellers Cannot Do

10/9 In-class written assignment 1

Unit 2: The Metaphysics of Objects

10/14 FALL BREAK

10/16 EnduranceSider, Temporal Parts

10/21 Temporal Parts and PerduranismFine, In Defense of Three Dimensionalism

10/23 Paradoxes of Coincidence – Paul, The Puzzles of Material Constitution

10/30 In-class written assignment 2

Unit 3: Personal Identity

11/4 Identity of Persons, Machines, ObjectsLocke, Enquiry, Chapter XXVII, On Identity and Diversity

11/6 Souls – Perry, A Dialogue on Personal Identity and Immortality, Night 1

11/11 Memory – Perry, A Dialogue on Personal Identity and Immortality, Night 2

11/13 Bodily vs Psychological Continuity – Perry, A Dialogue on Personal Identity and Immortality, Night 2

11/18 Psychological CriterionParfit, Personal Identity

11/20 Psychological CriterionParfit, continued

11/25 Bodily CriterionThomson, People and their Bodies

11/27 THANKSGIVING

12/2 In-class written assignment 3

12/4 In-class written assignment 3 continued

12/9 Review for Final Exam

12/11 Review for Final Exam

Final Exam

12/19 4pm-6pm Final Exam