METAPHYSICS
(PHIL 441, Sec. 1001)
    Reading Assignments

    (Readings from the Loux anthology, Metaphysics: Contemporary Readings, Second Edition, are listed by author, title, and page numbers (inside parentheses). Readings from Metaphysics: A Guided Tour for Beginners, by Tomasz Bigaj, are listed as "Bigaj" followed page numbers. Online readings are listed by author and title and labled "online". The online readings are available on the WebCampus-Canvas page for the course, via the Course Content section of the Modules area.)

  • For Aug. 30: Read Quine, "On What There Is" (pp. 42-56). Then read Bigaj, pp. 1-12. Anyone needing an introduction to or refresher on the notation of symbolic logic should read Alex Miller's "Frege: Semantic Value and Reference" (online). For fun, check out this song by The 21st Century Monads: "We Can't Stop Doing Metaphysics".
  • For Sep. 4: Labor Day! No class. Get started on the reading for Wed 9/6.
  • For Sep. 6: Read Alston, "Ontological Commitments" (online) and Carnap, "Empiricism, Semantics, and Ontology" (online).
  • For Sep. 11: Catch up on reading the Alston and Carnap assigned for 9/6.
  • For Sep. 13: Read Quine, "On Carnap's Views on Ontology" (online). Then read Bigaj, pp. 20-29. Check out The 21st Century Monads' song, "All I Want to Do (Is Instantiate Some Properties)".
  • For Sep. 18: Re-read Carnap, "Empiricism, Semantics, and Ontology", and Quine, "On Carnap's Views on Ontology".
  • For Sep. 20: Read Loux, "The Problem of Universals" (pp. 3-13) and re-read Bigaj, pp. 20-29. Then read Russell, "The World of Universals" (pp. 14-19) and Price, "Universals and Resemblances" (pp. 20-41).
  • For Sep. 25: No in-person meeting! Watch the prerecorded lecture posted on Canvas in the Panopto Recordings area linked on the left-side menu. Re-read Russell, "The World of Universals" (pp. 14-19) and Price, "Universals and Resemblances" (pp. 20-41).
  • For Sep. 27: No in-person meeting! Watch the prerecorded lecture posted on Canvas in the Panopto Recordings area linked on the left-side menu. Read Williams, "The Elements of Being" (pp. 57-64). Then read Campbell, "The Metaphysic of Abstract Particulars" (online). Check out the song, "Everybody Has to Carry Their Own Bag of Tropes," by The 21st Century Monads.
  • For Oct. 2: Read Armstrong, "Universals as Attributes" (pp. 65-91).
  • For Oct. 4: Re-read the Armstrong. Then read Bigaj, "Existence and Identity" (pp. 13-19) and "Universals and Particulars" (pp. 39-44) and Loux, "The Ontological Structure of Concrete Particulars" (pp. 95-103). Check out the topics for the First Paper, which will be due on October 16th. Be sure to look at my Paper Requirements and Policies and my Numbered Writing Comments Sheet as well.
  • For Oct. 9: Re-read Bigaj, "Existence and Identity" (pp. 13-19) and "Universals and Particulars" (pp. 39-44) and Loux, "The Ontological Structure of Concrete Particulars" (pp. 95-103). Then read Black, "The Identity of Indiscernibles" (pp. 104-113) and Allaire, "Bare Particulars" (pp. 114-120).
  • For Oct. 11: Read Sider, "Bare Particulars" (online).
  • For Oct. 16: Read Van Cleve, "Three Versions of the Bundle Theory" (pp. 121-133) and Casullo, "A Fourth Version of the Bundle Theory" (pp. 134-148). Submit your First Paper to Turnitin.com via the link in the Assignments section of the WebCampus/Canvas page for the course before class. Make sure the file you submit is a Word file (.doc, .docx, .docm) and has the proper file name (see the topics handout).
  • For Oct. 18: Re-read the Van Cleve and the Casullo chapters.
  • For Oct. 23: Read Bigaj, "Possibility and Necessity" (pp. 45-55); Loux, "Modality and Possible Worlds" (pp. 151-159); and Lewis, "Possible Worlds" (pp. 160-167).
  • For Oct. 25: Read Lewis, from On the Plurality of Worlds, Ch. 1 (online). Check out the songs "This is Not the Actual World", by The 21st Century Monads, and "Meinongian Babe", by The Monads (the pre-cursor to The 21st Century Monads).
  • For Oct. 30: Read Plantinga, "Actualism and Possible Worlds" (pp. 168-188).
  • For Nov. 1: Read the selection from Kripke, Naming and Necessity, Lecture I (online). Then read Lewis, "Counterparts or Double Lives?" (pp. 198-218). Also, check out the song, "Counterparts*", by The Monads.
  • For Nov. 6: Re-read the Kripke and Lewis assigned for 11/1, and read Bigaj, "Possibility and Necessity" (pp. 55-59).
  • For Nov. 8: Read Rosen, "Modal Fictionalism" (online). Then check out Nolan, "Modal Fictionalism" (online, SEP) for further discussion.
  • For Nov. 13: Read the material on modal fictionalism assigned for 11/8.
  • For Nov. 15: Read Bigaj, "Time and Temporal Objects" (pp. 60-72) and Loux, "Time: The A-Theory and the B-Theory" (pp. 341-349). Check out the topics for the Second Paper, which is due before midnight on Monday 11/27.
  • For Nov. 20: Read McTaggart, "Time" (pp. 350-361) and Broad, "Ostensible Temporality" (pp. 362-368). Then read Bigaj, "Time and Temporal Objects" (pp. 73-88). Also, check out the song "The Block Just Keeps on Growing", by The 21st Century Monads.
  • For Nov. 22: Yes, we have class. Read Taylor, "Time and Eternity" (pp. 369-378) and Prior, "The Notion of the Present" (pp. 379-383). Then read Prior, "Thank Goodness That's Over" (online).
  • For Nov. 27: (Re-)read the Taylor and Prior articles. Then read Smart, "The Space-Time World" (pp. 384-393).
  • For Nov. 29: Read Mellor, "The Need for Tense" (pp. 394-407). Then read Loux, "Endurantism and Perdurantism" (pp. 411-417) and Bigaj, "Time and Temporal Objects" (pp. 88-93).
  • For Dec. 2: Saturday: Submit your Second Paper before midnight.
  • For Dec. 4: Re-read Mellor, "The Need for Tense" (pp. 394-407), Loux, "Endurantism and Perdurantism" (pp. 411-417), and Bigaj, "Time and Temporal Objects" (pp. 88-93). Then get started on Heller, "Temporal Parts of Four-Dimensional Objects" (pp. 418-442).
  • For Dec. 6: Finish Heller, "Temporal Parts of Four-Dimensional Objects" (pp. 418-442). Then read Lewis, "The Paradoxes of Time Travel". Check out this "over-inclusive" Course Topics List as you study for the Final Exam.
  • For Dec. 13: FINAL EXAM! 10:10am in our regular classroom. Bring an exambook to write your answer in, and bring an extra for someone who forgets.
Last updated December 5, 2023

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This document was created on August 12, 2023.