Module PHL2016 for 2022/3
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Undergraduate Module Descriptor
PHL2016: Metaphysics
This module descriptor refers to the 2022/3 academic year.
Module Aims
The aim of this module is to introduce you to the place of metaphysics in the history of philosophy, to the challenges associated with the practice of metaphysics in contemporary thinking and with the principal problems that are presently addressed under the heading of metaphysics. You will become well versed in the nature of these problems and how one goes about addressing them from ‘analytic’, ‘naturalistic’ and ‘critical’ points of view.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to: | |
---|---|
Module-Specific Skills | 1. articulate an understanding of the meaning of metapyhysics, the place of metaphysics in philosophy, various philosophical challenges to the status of metaphysics, and a familiarity with some range of particular topics in metaphysics and the reasons why they have merited philosophical attention; 2. analyze the metaphysical presuppositions of truth claims; |
Discipline-Specific Skills | 3. expose and explore the metaphysical presuppositions at play in other areas of philosophy; 4. begin to consolidate philosophical concepts from other modules and begin to convey a sense of the unity of philosophy as a discipline; |
Personal and Key Skills | 5. begin to identify the substantive presuppositions of worldly truth claims beyond philosophy; and 6. write coherently and cogently about the conceptual context of real-world beliefs. |
Module Content
Syllabus Plan
After an initial introductory overview the module will proceed to consider the following basic philosophical topics:
- Causation
- Identity
- Emergence
- Supervenience
- Personal Identity
- Time
- Material and Abstract Objects
- Properties
Learning and Teaching
This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
---|---|---|
27.5 | 122.5 | 0 |
...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:
Category | Hours of study time | Description |
---|---|---|
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activity | 27.5 | 11 x 2.5 hours per week comprising of lectures and seminars |
Guided Independent Study | 33 | Assigned readings associated with each lecture |
Guided Independent Study | 10 | Preparation for class discussion |
Guided Independent Study | 35 | Preparation of Assigned Essay |
Guided Independent Study | 44.5 | Exam Revision and Private Study |
Online Resources
This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).
Lectures and Powerpoints will be available on ELE
How this Module is Assessed
In the tables below, you will see reference to 'ILO's. An ILO is an Intended Learning Outcome - see Aims and Learning Outcomes for details of the ILOs for this module.
Formative Assessment
A formative assessment is designed to give you feedback on your understanding of the module content but it will not count towards your mark for the module.
Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
---|---|---|---|
Essay Plan | 250 words | 1-6 | Written |
Summative Assessment
A summative assessment counts towards your mark for the module. The table below tells you what percentage of your mark will come from which type of assessment.
Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
---|---|---|
50 | 50 | 0 |
...and this table provides further details on the summative assessments for this module.
Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
---|---|---|---|---|
Examination | 50 | 1 hour | 1-6 | Written |
Essay | 50 | 1500 words | 1-6 | Written |
Re-assessment
Re-assessment takes place when the summative assessment has not been completed by the original deadline, and the student has been allowed to refer or defer it to a later date (this only happens following certain criteria and is always subject to exam board approval). For obvious reasons, re-assessments cannot be the same as the original assessment and so these alternatives are set. In cases where the form of assessment is the same, the content will nevertheless be different.
Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
---|---|---|---|
Examination | Examination (1 hour) | 1-6 | August/September reassessment Period |
Essay | Essay (1500 words) | 1-6 | August/September reassessment Period |
Indicative Reading List
This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.
Core Reading:
The core reading for the course is Kim &Sosa (eds): Metaphysics: An Anthology (1999). This includes almost all of the key readings for the course and I recommend that you purchase a copy. Also, the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, which is free and online, contains many useful entries whichwill give you an appropriate grounding in each topic, but should not be used as a replacement for key readings. I will recommend additional readings in class.
1 Introduction -what the course is about, structure of teaching and assessment.
2 Existence
Reading:
W.V. Quine (1948): 'On What There Is'; Review of Metaphysics.
(In Kim &Sosa; and here: http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/On_What_There_Is)
3 Realism and Anti-Realism
Reading:
M. Dummett (1982): 'Realism'; Synthese, 52, pp55-112.
(In Kim & Sosa).
4 Supervenience and Emergence
Reading:
J. Kim (1999): 'Making Sense of Emergence'; Philosophical Studies, 95
J. Kim (1990): 'Supervenience as a Philosophical Concept'; Metaphilosophy, 21
(In Kim & Sosa).
5 Identity over time
Reading:
R.Chisholm (1976): 'Identity Through Time'; originally published in his Person & Object.
W.V. Quine (1953): 'Identity, Ostension, and Hypostasis'; originally published in his From a Logical Point of View.
(Both in Kim & Sosa).
6 Persons and persistence
Reading:
D. Parfit (1971): 'Personal Identity'; Philosophical Review, 80
(In Kim &Sosa)
E. Olson (2007): 'What are We?' Journal of consciousness studies.
(and here: http://www.shef.ac.uk/content/1/c6/03/49/16/WAWpaper.pdf)
7 Causation
Reading:
J.L. Mackie (1965): 'Causes and Conditions'; American Philosophical Quarterly, 5
D. Lewis (1973): 'Causation'; Journal of Philosophy, 70
(Both in Kim & Sosa).
8 Mental Causation
Reading:
L. R. Baker (1993): 'Metaphysics and Mental Causation'; in Heil & Mele. (eds), 1993: Mental Causation; Oxford. (other entries in this volume are extremely good, too).
Block, N. (2003) 'Do Causal Powers Drain Away?'; Philosophy and Phenomenological Research
(http://www.nyu.edu/gsas/dept/philo/faculty/block/papers/CausalPowers.pdf)
9 Abstract and Puzzling Entities
Reading:
R. Sorensen (1999): 'Seeing Intersecting Eclipses'; The Journal of Philosophy, 96
R. Sorensen (2008): Seeing Dark Things. The Philosophy of Shadows,Oxford: OUP
G. Bealer (1993): 'Universals'; Journal of Philosophy, 90
10 Modality and Possible Worlds
Reading:
A. Plantinga (1974): 'Modalities: Basic Concepts and Distinctions; in his The Nature of Necessity, Oxford.
D. Lewis (1986): 'Counterparts or Double Lives?'; in his On the Plurality of Worlds, Oxford.
(Both in Kim & Sosa).