Metaphysics
PHIL 3330 Call# 44569
Fall 2009
Instructor: Kent Baldner (baldner@wmich.edu)
Class: MW 10:00—11:40 am,
Office Hours: MW: 11:45—12:45 and TR 11:00—12:00, Moore Hall 3013
Office Phone: 387‑4402
Class Web Page: http://homepages.wmich.edu/~baldner/metasyl.htm
Required Text: Metaphysics: An Anthology, ed. by Jaegwon Kim and Ernest Sosa.
Meditations on First Philosophy, René Descartes (thanks to Jonathan Bennett and his many texts available for free at: Early Modern Texts).
This is a WRITING INTENSIVE course which fulfills the Baccalaureate Level Writing Requirement for those majoring in Philosophy.
Some of the readings for this class are quite difficult. Although this class has no pre-requisites and fulfills a General Education Area Requirement, it was designed as a core course for philosophy majors. Regular class attendance is highly recommended.
Grading: Grades will be based on three thesis defense papers (each worth 20% due 10/9, 11/8, and 12/9), the best 5 of 6 in-class pop-quizzes (each worth 2%), and a final exam (worth 30%, on Thursday, December 17, from 10:15--12:15). The in-class quizzes will cover material we have already discussed, or are about to discuss, and are designed to insure that you have read and thought about the day’s readings prior to coming to class. There will be no make-ups for missed quizzes, but I will drop your lowest score. The final exam will consist of essay questions, some of which will be closely based upon the in-class quizzes.
Course Objectives: 1. Students will acquire knowledge of
contemporary philosophical thinking about metaphysics issues, and contemporary
analytic methods of inquiry into this subject matter. 2.
Students will develop their writing skills. (Note: This
course satisfies the Gen Ed Baccalaureate Writing Requirement for students
majoring in Philosophy.) 3. Students will develop skills in stating and
critically evaluating arguments.
Academic Honesty: You are
responsible for making yourself aware of and understanding the policies and
procedures in the Undergraduate
Catalog that pertain to Academic Honesty. These policies include cheating,
fabrication, falsification and forgery, multiple submission, plagiarism,
complicity and computer misuse. If there is reason to believe you have been
involved in academic dishonesty, you will be referred to the Office of Student
Conduct. You will be given the opportunity to review the charge(s). If you
believe you are not responsible, you will have the opportunity for a hearing.
Religious Observance: (The following is from the University’s Policy on Religious Observance) The University is a
diverse, multicultural enterprise and, as a community, we jointly embrace both
individual responsibility and dignified respect for our differences. It is our
general policy to permit students to fulfill obligations set aside by their
faith.
It is
our intent that students who must be absent from scheduled classes to fulfill
religious obligations or observe practices associated with their faith not be
disadvantaged. However, it is the student’s responsibility to make arrangements
with his/her instructors in advance.
Instructors
should assume that a claim of religious observance has veracity, especially
when advance notice is provided by the student. Students likewise must
recognize that it is their responsibility to meet all their course obligations.
Instructors are not obligated to provide materials to students unless these
materials would have normally been distributed to the entire class.
The Descartes readings are
available in an “Adobe *.pdf” file, so if you don’t
already have one, you will need to download an Adobe Reader.
Tentative
Note: It is quite possible we
fall behind and omit some readings.
MON.
WED.
|
9/7 Labor
Day—No Classes |
9/9 General
Introduction |
|
9/14 Descartes,
Meditation 1 |
9/16 Descartes,
Meditations 2; intro to 3 |
|
9/21 Descartes,
Meditation 3 Quiz 1 |
9/23 Descartes, Meditations 3 and 5 |
|
9/28 Meditation 4 |
9/30 Meditation 6 and
Intro
to Logic for Metaphysicians |
|
10/5 Meditation 6 |
10/7 Meditation 6
and Intro to
Logic for Metaphysicians First Papers Due, Friday, 10/9 |
|
10/12 W.V.O.
Quine: “On What There Is,” pp. 4-12
Quiz 2 |
10/14 W.V.O.
Quine: “On What There Is,” pp. 4-12 |
|
10/19 W.V.O. Quine:
“On What There Is,” pp. 4-12; Terrence Parsons: “Referring to Non-Existent
Objects” (first two sections), pp. 36-40 |
10/21 Rudolph Carnap: “Empiricism, Semantics, and Ontology,” pp.
13-22 |
|
10/26 Carnap (Cont.) W.V.O. Quine: “Ontological Relativity,”
pp. 45-61 |
10/28 W.V.O. Quine:
“Ontological Relativity,” pp. 45-61 |
|
11/2 Max Black: “The Identity of Indiscernibles,” pp. 66-71 Quiz 3 |
11/3 Saul Kripke:
“Naming and Necessity,” pp. 72-89 Second Papers Due, Sunday 11/8 |
|
11/9 Saul Kripke:
“Naming and Necessity,” pp. 72-89 |
11/11 D. M Alvin Plantiga: “Modalities: Basic
Concepts and Distinctions,” pp. 135-148 Quiz 4 |
|
11/16 Alvin Plantiga: “Modalities: Basic Concepts
and Distinctions,” pp. 135-148 |
11/18 W.V.O. Quine:
“Natural Kinds,” pp. 233-242 |
|
11/23 Roderick
Chisholm: “The Persistence of Persons,” pp. 331-33; Quiz
5 |
11/25 Thanksgiving: No Classes |
|
11/30 Bernard
Williams: “The Self and the Future,” pp. 355-364 |
12/2 Williams, cont.;
Jerry Fodor: “Special Sciences,” pp. 504-514 |
|
12/7 Fodor, cont. Quiz
6 |
12/9 “William
Alston: Yes, Third Papers Due, Friday 12/11 |
Final Exam: Thursday Dec. 17, 10:15 - 12:15 pm