PHIL 361
Metaphysical Structures of the World
Please note: this is archived course information from 2012 for PHIL 361.
Description
Metaphysics investigates philosophical problems which arise out of attempts to give a quite general picture of the nature and structure of the world, and more generally, from considering problems involving the most fundamental concepts we use in attempting to describe the nature of reality and our place in it, and in attempting to evaluate doctrines in this domain. Science, commonsense, religions and cultures all presuppose metaphysical worldviews. Traditional metaphysical problems concern laws, causation, time, space, substance, identity, attributes and universals, free will, reality, existence, modality and so on. Course topics will be selected from such traditional problems, especially modern and contemporary approaches to them.
Visit the PHIL 361 course website for more course information.
Availability 2012
Semester 1
Lecturer(s)
Coordinator(s) Professor Robert Nola
Lecturer(s) Dr Denis Robinson
Recommended Reading
Brian Garrett, What is this thing called Metaphysics? 2nd. Edition, London, Routledge, 2011. ISBN: 9780415617222, or ISBN-10: 0415617227
Assessment
Coursework + exam
Points
PHIL 361: 15 points
Prerequisites
Any 30 points at Stage II in Philosophy or 30 points from HISTORY 240, PHIL 260, SCIGEN 201
Restrictions
PHIL 261
Online Resources
