Metaphysics SyllabusPHIL 402 - FALL 2009 - DR. KEITH A. KORCZ
How To Reach Professor Korcz:
My office is in H. L. Griffin Hall, rm. 563. My office hours are MW 12:00-1:00, 2:15-5:00, TR 12:00-1:00, and F 12:00-1:00. We can also meet at other times by arrangement - just ask. My office phone no. is 482-6806. You can also contact me (or ask questions) by e-mail at keithk@louisiana.edu.
Required Texts:
1. Michael Jubien, Contemporary Metaphysics, (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 1997).
2. Robert Kane, A Contemporary Introduction to Free Will, (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2005).
3. Course Pack
The course pack is available only at the Dupre Library Reserve Desk.
Assignments:
Exams:
There will be two in-class, short-answer exams, each worth 20% of the course grade. There will also be a cumulative short-answer final exam worth 25% of the course grade. However, all make-up exams will be primarily long-essay. The exams will cover both lectures and assigned readings (material in lectures and assigned readings will not always overlap). All exams are closed book/closed note.
Paper Assignment:
There will also be a term paper (approx. 20 pages in length). The term paper will be completed in two successive drafts. The first draft will be worth 5% of the course grade and the final draft worth 30% of the course grade. Each draft of the term paper will consist of two parts. The first part of the paper should be a critical discussion of a published article(s) or a view(s) we have discussed in class. The second part of the paper should consist of an original, positive contribution regarding one of the issues raised in the first part of the paper. Topics must be approved by the instructor. Suggested topics and further information will be provided later.
Grading:
The course grades will initially be determined according to the standard scale, i.e., 90-100% = A, 80-89% = B, 70-79% = C, 60-69% = D, 59% and below = F, and then may be modified as follows: Course grades might be curved, but, if so, the curve would not be such that any student's grade is lowered. Such factors as improvement over the length of the course, class participation, attendance, etc., may be taken into consideration, especially where doing so may improve a borderline grade. You must complete all course assignments (namely all exams and both drafts of the paper) to receive a passing grade (i.e., a grade other than F, NC or U).
Internet Resources:
The course home page (http://www.ucs.louisiana.edu/~kak7409/402Home.html) contains links to useful sites regarding the subject matter of the course, including philosophy journals available on-line and at Dupre, the on-line syllabus, and other resources. The on-line syllabus contains links to the home pages of the authors of our readings, readings available on-line, etc.
You are also encouraged to visit my home page, which contains a link to the home page for this class as well as hundreds of organized links to research and philosophy oriented web sites, among other things, that you may find interesting and useful. The address for my home page is http://www.ucs.louisiana.edu/~kak7409. A Moodle page for the course will be activated at the beginning of the semester.
Class Policies:
If you miss class, for whatever reason, it is your responsibility to get class notes from another student. If you miss an assignment due date, you must notify me within one week of either the due date of the assignment or the cessation of a medically documented persistent vegetative state in order to make up the assignment. Missed exams can be made up for full credit only if an appropriate excuse, e.g., illness requiring medical attention, participation in certain official university events, etc., is provided. An unexcused late assignment will be dropped 2/3 of a letter grade per day it is late. If you have a disability and require assistance with fulfilling class assignments, don't hesitate to notify the instructor and the Office of Disability Services at 482-5252. Finally, be sure you are familiar with all university policies described in the UL Lafayette Undergraduate Bulletin. All assignments for this class must be completed individually, and any instance of academic dishonesty on any assignment will be sufficient to fail the course.
Emergency Evacuation Procedures:
A map of this floor is posted near the elevator marking the evacuation route and the Designated Rescue Area. This is an area where emergency service personnel will go first to look for individuals who need assistance in exiting the building. Students who may need assistance should identify themselves to the teaching faculty.
COURSE CALENDAR & PLANNED READING ASSIGNMENTS
NOTE: Topics, readings and assignments are tentative and may be changed.
CP = Course Pack CM = Contemporary Metaphysics FW = A Contemporary Intro. to Free Will
Topic 1: What Is Metaphysics?
Week of August 24: (CM): Chapter 1, "Metaphysics"; (CP): "On What There Is" [you can have it read to you on YouTube!] by W. V. Quine, "Nominalist Things" by Henry Fitzgerald
Topic 2: What Is Truth?
a. What Do We Want From A Theory of Truth? (no readings)Monday, September 7: Labor Day, No Classes
b. Truth and Objectivity: Week of Aug. 31: (CM): Chapter 5 "Is Truth Relative?"
c. A Pragmatic Conception of Truth: Week of Sept. 7: (CP): William JamesPragmatism's Conception of Truth"
d. Coherence Theories of Truth: (CP): Frederick Schmitt "The Coherence Theory"
e. Correspondence Theories of Truth: Week of Sept. 14: (CP): Richard Kirkham "The Correspondence Theory"
f. A Deflationary Theory of Truth: (CP): Paul Horwich selections from Truth, Second Ed.
"
Topic 3: What Are Numbers?
a. Overview: Week of Sept. 21: (CM): Chapter 2, "Numbers"
b. Historical Background: (CP): W. C. Kneale "Gottlob Frege and Mathematical Logic"
c. A Defense of Nominalism About Numbers: (CP): Paul BenacerrafWhat Numbers Could Not Be" "[A short bio of Benacerraf is available here.]
d. A Defense of Realism About Numbers: Week of Sept. 28: (CP): Penelope Maddy "Perception and Mathematical Intuition"
EXAM #1. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 28
Thursday & Friday, October 1-2: Fall Holiday, No Classes
Topic 4: What Are Properties? Relations? Propositions?
a. Overview: Week of Oct. 5: (CM): Chapter 3 "Platonism"
b. Propositions and Truth: (CP): W. V. Quine "Meaning and Truth", William Alston "Alethic Realism"
FIRST DRAFT OF PAPER DUE. MONDAY, OCTOBER 12
Topic 5: Identity
Week of Oct. 12: (CM): Chapter 4 "Identity" and Chapter 9 "Things and Their Parts"Monday, October 19: Advising for Spring 2010 Begins
Topic 6: Do Humans Have Free Will?
a. Overview: Week of Oct. 26: (FW): Chapter 1, "The Free Will Problem"
b. Classical Compatibilism: (FW): Chapter 2, "Compatibilism"
c. Incompatibilism: (FW): Chapter 3, "Incompatibilism"
EXAM #2. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28
d. Libertarianism: Week of Nov. 2: (FW): Chapter 4, "Libertarianism, Indeterminism and Chance"
e. Agent-Causation Theories: (FW): Chapter 5, "Minds, Selves and Agent Causes" and Chapter 6, "Actions, Reasons and Causes"
f. Skepticism About Free Will: Week of Nov. 9: (FW): Chapter 7, "Is Free Will Possible? Hard Determinists and Other Skeptics"
g. New Compatibilism: (FW): Chapter 8, "Moral Responsibility and Alternative Possibilities" and Chapter 9, "Higher-Order Desires, Real Selves and New Compatibilists"
FINAL DRAFT OF PAPER DUE: WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25
Topic 7: What Are Possibilities?
a. Overview: Week of Nov. 16: (CM): Chapter 8 "Modality"
b. Realism About Possible Worlds: (CP): David Lewis "Possible Worlds"
c. Trans-World Identity: Week of Nov. 23: (CP): Alvin Plantinga [here is Plantinga's home page] "Transworld Identity or Worldbound Individuals?"
d. In Defense of Essentialism: (CP): Hilary Putnam "Meaning and Reference"
e. Iterated Modalities: (no readings)
Topic 8: What Is Fiction?
a. Realism About Fictional Entities: Week of Nov. 30: (CP): Alexius Meinong "A Theory of Objects"
Thursday And Friday, November 26-27: Thanksgiving Holiday, No Classes.
b. Fiction and Analysis: (CM): Chapter 10 "Is There Truth In Fiction?"
LAST DAY OF CLASSES: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4
FINAL EXAM: TUESDAY, DEC. 8, FROM 11:00AM - 1:30 PM, IN REGULAR CLASSROOM
STUDY DAY: WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9
