Date
|
Notes, Links, and other Information
|
|
|
Topic:
Identity
|
|
Tuesday, Jan. 12
|
What
is Metaphysics? (01)
Background
Terminology
and
Distinctions
(02)
|
Thursday, Jan. 14
|
Black,
"The Identity of Indiscernibles" (03)
|
|
|
Tuesday, Jan. 19
|
Kripke,
"Identity and Necessity" (04)
|
Thursday, Jan. 21
|
Perry,
"The Same F" (05)
***Shorter Paper Assignment
|
|
|
Tuesday, Jan. 26
|
Gibbard,
"Contingent Identity" (06)
|
| Topic:
Existence |
|
Thursday, Jan. 28
|
Quine, "On What
There Is"
(07)
|
|
|
Tuesday, Feb. 2
|
Carnap,
"Empiricism, Semantics,
and Ontology" (08)
|
Thursday, Feb. 4
|
Yablo,
"Does Ontology Rest on a Mistake?" (09)
http://www.mit.edu/~yablo/om.pdf
|
|
|
Topic:
Modality
|
|
Tuesday, Feb. 9
|
Plantinga,
"Modalities:
Basic Concepts and Distinctions" (10)
***Shorter Paper Due |
Thursday, Feb. 11
|
Chisholm,
"Identity through
Possible Worlds" (11) |
|
|
Tuesday, Feb. 16
|
Lewis,
"Counterparts or Double
Lives?" (12) |
Thursday, Feb. 18
|
Adams,
"Primitive Thisness and
Primitive Identity" (13) |
|
|
Topic:
Persistence
Through Time
|
|
Tuesday, Feb. 23
|
Chisholm,
"Identity
through
Time" (14) |
Thursday, Feb. 25
|
Quine,
"Identity, Ostension,
and Hypostasis" (15) |
|
|
Tuesday, March 2
|
Thomson,
"Parthood and Identity
across Time" (16)
***Midterm Questions
|
Thursday, March 4
|
Heller,
"Temporal Parts of
Four-Dimensional
Objects" (17)
|
|
|
Topic:
Personal
Identity
|
|
Tuesday, March 9
|
Chisholm,
"The
Persistence
of
Persons" (18)
***Midterm Due |
Thursday, March 11
|
Shoemaker,
"Persons
and
their
Pasts" (19) |
|
|
Tuesday, March 16
|
Williams,
"The
Self
and
the
Future" (20)
Here's a link to Locke's
writings
on
personal
identity (An
Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Bk II, Chapter 27).
|
Thursday, March 18
|
Parfit,
"Personal
Identity" (21)
***Final
Paper
Assignment
|
|
|
Tuesday, March 23
|
NO
CLASS SPRING BREAK |
Thursday, March 25
|
NO
CLASS
SPRING
BREAK |
|
|
Tuesday, March 30
|
Johnston,
"Human Beings" (22) |
Thursday, April 1
|
Swinburne,
"Personal
Identity:
The
Dualist
Theory" (23) |
|
|
Topic:
Causation
|
|
Tuesday, April 6
|
Mackie, "Causes
and Conditions" (24) |
Thursday, April 8
|
Davidson,
"Causal
Relations" (25) |
|
|
Tuesday, April 13
|
Lewis,
"Causation" (26) |
Thursday, April 15
|
Tooley,
"The
Nature
of
Causation:
A
Singularist
Account" (27) |
|
|
Topic:
Realism/Anti-Realism
|
|
Tuesday, April 20
|
Putnam,
"Pragmatic
Realism" (28)
|
Thursday, April 22
|
Sosa, "Putnam’s
Pragmatic
Realism" (29) |
|
|
Tuesday, April 27
|
Alston, "Yes,
Virginia, There
Is a Real World" (30)
***Final
Exam Questions
|
Thursday, April 29
|
Blackburn,
"Morals and Modals" (31)
***Longer Paper Due |
|
|
Monday, May 3
|
Final
Exam (12:30 - 2:30 p.m.., in our regular classroom)
|