Phil. 125
Philosophy 181
Spring Semester 2010
Prof. Dowden
Catalog description: Metaphysics is a blind alley of thought into which fiends have conspired these many centuries past to lure the human intellect to its destruction. 3 units.
More catalog description: That catalog description above is not exactly what is stated in the catalog, but it is basically correct, isn't it?
Just kidding. Here is the catalog description: Examines arguments concerning the nature of reality. Representative topics include: substance, space, time, God, free will, determinism, identity, universals. Emphasis is on contemporary formulations. Prerequisite: 6 units in philosophy or instructor permission. 3 units.
Textbooks: There will be two required textbooks. One is What is this thing called metaphysics? by Brian Garrett, Routledge Publishers, 2006. $29.95.
The other textbook is The Metaphysics of Time: A Dialogue by Bradley Dowden, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2009. $19.95. It is available in paperback in the book store and from online booksellers such as Amazon.com ($14.36).
Some other reading assignments are available on the Internet, as indicated below. In addition to the assigned reading in the textbook, you will receive occasional class handouts, which you should consider to be required reading.
Grades: Your grade will be determined by two essays (33% each), and a final exam (34%).
- Feb. 25 Essay 1 due
- April 8 Essay 2 due
- May 20 Final exam 10:15-12:15
(see sample questions)
Prerequisites: Six units of college philosophy. The most helpful course to have taken is History of Early Modern Philosophy. The prerequisite requirement might be waived if you talk to me about your interests and experience.
This course will presuppose that, from other philosophy courses, you have already learned a few philosophical skills. Specifically, (1) you know how to read a philosophy article [as opposed to, say, a novel], compose a summary or abstract of it, and also extract the author's thesis from that article. A thesis is a sentence or two that states the main point the author is trying to make. (2) You know how to define your key terms, and you have some sense of what words need defining and what can be taken for granted. (3) You know how to detect an argument by analogy even if it doesn't use any form of the word "analogy." (4) You know how to construct a philosophical essay, including writing a draft, revising the draft, using quotations, citing outside sources of ideas, and avoiding plagiarism.
Add-Drop: To add the course, try to do so by using CMS. If the course is full, but you are a graduating senior this semester and are majoring in philosophy, then see me about signing up on the waiting list. To drop the course during the first two weeks, use the CMS system. No paperwork is required. After the first two weeks, it is harder to drop, and a departmental form is required, the "Petition to Add/Drop After Deadline." As with any university course, make sure you are dropped officially (by CMS or by the instructor or department secretary); don't simply walk away into the ozone or else you will get a "U" grade for the course, which is counted as an "F" in computing your GPA (grade point average).
Late work, and make-up assignments: If you need to miss an assignment and have a proper excuse, I'll use your final exam grade for the grade on a missed assignment. There are no make-ups. Contact me right away if you miss an assignment.
Laptops and cell phones: No photographing, recording or text messaging during class is allowed without permission of the instructor.
Disabilities: If you have a documented disability and
require accommodation or assistance with assignments, tests,
attendance, note taking, etc., please see me early in the semester so
that appropriate arrangements can be made to ensure your full
participation in class. Also, you are encouraged to contact the
Services for Students with Disabilities (Lassen Hall) for additional
information regarding services that might be available to you.
Plagiarism: A
student tutorial on how not to plagiarize is available online from
our library at
http://library.csus.edu/content2.asp?pageID=357
Food: Please do not eat and drink during class. You're welcome to leave class anytime if the need arises.
Goals: At the end of our semester, you can
expect to have a good understanding of the difference between
metaphysics and other areas of philosophy. You will know about the
major metaphysical problems and the variety of their solutions. During
our course, you will acquire the ability to read professional-level
writing in metaphysics, and to formulate your own metaphysical
positions. That is, your goal isn't merely to figure out the position
of the author you happen to be reading; it is also to figure out
whether you are going to accept that position and why. As a final
goal for our course, the assignments are designed to improve
your writing ability.
Prof. Dowden
Professor: My office is in Mendocino Hall,
room 3022, phone 278-7384. My weekly office hours will be announced at
the first class meeting. Feel free to stop by or call at any of those
times. If those hours are inconvenient for you, then we can arrange an
appointment for an alternative time. Also, you may send me e-mail any
time at dowden@csus.edu
Description of the course:
Metaphysicians ask fundamental questions
concerning the general nature of the world we inhabit. Judging by the
sorts of books for sale in the metaphysics section of book stores,
you'd think our course would be about the "popular" metaphysical topics
such as telepathy, the occult, flying saucers, contacting the dead,
talking to God, exorcising demons, and so forth.
Instead, we will focus on topics of more central concern to academic philosophers, such as the nature of consciousness, personal identity, time, space, God, infinity, and free will. Our readings will be from the Western philosophical tradition, and most will represent an analytic perspective.
We will study, among other things, the pitfalls of reification, the process of regarding something abstract as a material thing. Here is an example. "The past hit me in the face like a bloody hand," says a hard-boiled buckaroo in a Raymond Chandler novel. But we metaphysicians know the past isn't an object that can do this sort of thing. We can't always take literally the musings of a Montana cowboy; if we do we might fall into a "pit." When it comes to asessing remarks about what objects there are, philosophers want to know which remarks we can take literally. Ah, there's the rub, and it is one goal for our course.
Our course will be an introductory survey of the major areas of academic metaphysics. A major area of metaphysics, and of our course, is ontology. It is the study of what exists and what doesn't exist. Here are three ontological questions:
(i) Were the women who were burned as witches during the Salem witch trials of 1692 really witches? (ii) Are some infinitely large things bigger than other infinitely large things? (iii) Is the future real?
Among philosophers since Descartes [1596-1650], metaphysics has come to have the distinct sense of having to do with what lies beyond--with what is abstract and perhaps transcendent. Our course is influenced by Descartes' vision, but a metaphysics should be more than merely a poetic vision of what there is. It should be a theory or a systematic group of basic beliefs backed up by hopefully convincing arguments intended to compel assent from every rational thinker. Quite a goal, right?
Our course is not historically oriented. We won't march through
metaphysics century by century. Instead, our course is problem-oriented
or issue-oriented. We will pick topics and study them with no
particular attention to history except as it enriches the current
discussion.
There is an old American Indian proverb that illustrates one of the issues in our course. The proverb goes like this:
Just the other day, I was an Indian
Following a coyote's trail.
If I had gotten a little closer to the Earth
I could have been the coyote
Making the trails.
If I had gotten even closer,
I could have been the Earth
Upon which they walked.
By trading on the imprecision in the word "closer," the proverb makes a
point about the way Indians view the universe. The proverb also raises
a metaphysical problem that is called "the problem of personal
identity." To appreciate the problem, consider what it means to say "I
could have been the coyote." Could you really have been a coyote
instead of a human being? No, say some critics, because you'd lose your
personal identity if you were a coyote. That is, you'd lose what it is
that makes you be you. The Princeton University philosopher Saul Kripke
says you can't be you unless you have the parents you have, but because
your parents never gave birth to a coyote, it follows that you can't
possibly have been a coyote, and so the Indian proverb is incorrect, if
it is interpreted literally. There are responses to Kripke that
defenders of the proverb might offer, but we won't pursue these.
Instead, for now let's just note that we have approached some
metaphysical material within American Indian folklore with the tools of
the analytical philosopher. By asking "Could you have been a coyote?"
we've asked the kind of question that requires a careful analysis of
what is said and meant, and this is the mark of analytical philosophy.
Background reading: A good, easy
introduction to metaphysics is the book Metaphysics by Richard Taylor;
another is the book The Problems of Philosophy by Bertrand Russell. Two standard
reference works for philosophers and philosophy students are The Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, edited by William Craig, 1998,
and The Encyclopedia of Philosophy, edited by Paul Edwards, 1967. They
contain short, trustworthy articles on the philosophers, philosophies,
and philosophical concepts used in our course. Good online
encyclopedias are the
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy and
The Internet Encyclopedia of
Philosophy. Other equally good, but shorter,
reference works are The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, edited by
Robert Audi, and A Dictionary of Philosophy, edited by Thomas Mautner.
All these paper reference works are in the Library in 2 North (Library
Use Only). The dictionary articles are shorter and easier to read than
those in the encyclopedias. The philosophy resources
of the CSUS Library are accessible at
http://library.csus.edu/guides/robertsl/philoguide.htm.
Disabilities: If you have a documented
disability and require accommodation or assistance, please contact me
early in the semester so that arrangements can be made.
Schedule of Topics and Reading Assignments: Click here to see the schedule of weekly assignments and topics.
Study tips: As you read an article or chapter, it’s helpful first to skim it, that is, glance over it, to get some sense of what’s ahead. Look at how it is organized and what clues, if any, the author provides to signify main ideas. The clues might be in the first or last few sentences, in section titles, and via use of bold face type. Make your own notes as you read. Stop every ten or fifteen minutes to look back over what you’ve read and try to summarize the key ideas for yourself. This periodic pausing and reviewing and looking ahead will help you maintain your concentration, process the information more deeply, and retain it longer.
Don't forget the bigger picture. Did you notice connections between one article and another, or between the views of one author and those of another? Did you get convinced by what the author said?
Completing a course assignment will require you occasionally to apply your knowledge to new situations not specifically discussed in class nor in the books. This ability to use your knowledge in new situations requires study activities different from memorizing. Your goal is to improve your philosophical skills, not simply to memorize information.
Contact me at dowden@csus.edu if you would like more
information about our course.