Department of Philosophy

Philosophy 304
METAPHYSICS
3 units

COURSE SYLLABUS
Spring 2009

INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Don Blakeley

Classroom: Holmes 247
Time: 12:30-1:20 MWF

Office:     Sakamaki Hall 304 C     
Office hours:     MW 1:30-2:30, by appointment, and email
Email:      This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Office Phone and voice mail:         956-6686
Department of Philosophy Office:     Sakamaki Hall 301 D; Phone: 956-8649                


Catalog Course Description: Problems arising from attempts to categorize rationally what is, and what appears to be. Among others, topics may include universals and particulars, personal identity, freedom and determinism, and time. Pre: any course 100 or above in PHIL, or consent. Course designation: DH & W Focus.

METAPHYSICS (Phil. 304)  Dr. Don Blakeley
The class will examine (1) typical features of metaphysical projects illustrated by five metaphysical systems, (2) typical criticisms of such efforts, (3) proposed responses to the criticisms, (4) more recent developments in metaphysics, including (5) the investigation of particular metaphysical issues such as freedom, self-identity, God, body-consciousness, possible worlds/virtual reality. Selection of material to be considered in the Metaphysics, theBig Questions text will be determined in part on the basis of class interest. Western and Asian texts will be used. Course designation: DH & W Focus.

Texts
One book to be purchased--from the UH Bookstore or elsewhere.
• METAPHYSICS: THE BIG QUESTIONS, by Peter van Inwagen and Dean W. Zimmerman.
Blackwell Publishing, 2nd  Edition, 2008.

Additional reading selections will be available through the UH Laulima site.

Required: Access to MYUH portal, with email box and access to Laulima. Many assignments will utilize resources posted in Laulima. All of your written work for the class will be delivered (“handed in”) by email. A variety of materials, including the class syllabus, will be posted on Laulima and updated when necessary. Announcements will be posted frequently on Laulima. Reading material will be posted on Laulima. So, get connected and stay in touch! No additional costs for the class are anticipated.

Organization
Because the course enrollment is limited, this allows for more of a seminar type format rather than a lecture format. Class discussion will be an important method of advancing our learning. I will often begin with a mini lecture, then guide, initiate, and facilitate as we proceed. Your own participation is important to the course. Your experience of the course will depend upon your attentiveness to the reading, your willingness to engage in discussion, and your written work on various topics. I will say more about "critical dialogue" during class sessions, but this method of proceeding will be important for all of us. And, no matter what else happens, the course is intended to be a good educational adventure, i.e., fun!

Primary Learning Goals and Outcomes (Course Objectives)
• To increase awareness of the nature and challenges characteristic of the field of metaphysics, both in the past as well as the present, in Asian as well as Western traditions.
• To examine a variety of important methods and principles utilized by metaphysical thinkers to delineate the nature of reality and persons.
• To increase skills in communicating philosophical issues and increase critical thinking/analytic skills in assessing claims, reasoning, arguments, evaluations and other conclusions.
• To increase independent, constructive, creative thinking in the area of metaphysics.
• To use the information of the class to write analytic papers. This is a Focus course that satisfies a writing requirement of the university. The advance or enhancement of writing skills is a crucial part of the class.
• To increase awareness of the role that metaphysics plays in relation to contemporary global conditions as well as existential situations that bear directly on one’s life.
• To experience the challenges of understanding philosophical diversity in the world and advance skills in comparative philosophical analysis.
• Increase competence in and enjoyment of the discipline of philosophy.

Each of these goals should be realized and displayed more fully and competently over the course of the semester in the various assignments that are completed.  

Grading Procedure
• Participation in class discussions; show familiarity with the reading material;    --- 25 points
    contribute to advancing a critical, mindful, analytic, creative, imaginative
    inquiry and general sensitivity to the issues considered in class discussion.    
    Attendance is required. Your total grade score for the course will be decreased
    by 5 points for every unexcused absence beyond 4. An absence without a
    legitimate explanation will be considered unexcused. Excellent attendance
    and participation will be used to resolve in your favor any borderline final grade.
    Very poor attendance can reduce your final grade to a D or F, no matter how
    good your other work has been.
• One in-class report on the reading material selected by you. The focus of the    --- 15 points
    report should be on an article included in Metaphysics, the Big Questions.
    These will be scheduled during the last few weeks of the semester.
• An occasional one page outline of arguments related to a metaphysical issue    --- 5 points each
    in the reading material. These will usually be due on the class session
    after the assignment is made—by email submission. These are simple, brief
    analytic exercises.
• Writing assignments: Three 4 page (1000 word minimum) papers on topics    --- 30 points each
    that will be formulated by the instructor over the course of the semester. About       = 90 points total
    6-8 topics will be available for selection during the semester. You must write
    on three of these topics. Papers will be due one week after the topic is offered.
    No late papers will be accepted. One paper must be completed by Feb. 15.
    Guidelines will be provided.
• One 6 page (minimum) paper--due at the end of the semester (May 1) on a topic    ---40 points
    of your choice—selected in consultation with the instructor. This paper will follow
    the format of the previous papers written for the class.
• Final examination on May 11, taken via Laulima.    ---20 points
                    
                                                              Total points possible = 190+ points, depending on the number of                                                                                    “brief outline of argument” papers that are assigned.

Each paper will be read with care by the instructor and receive comments. Additional (more than three) 4 page papers may be written. You are encouraged to write as many papers as you can manage, since writing skills are improved by practice. Your grade for the writing assignment will be calculated on the 3 highest grades. The grade value of your written work will be related to the following factors:
(1)    Accuracy of information provided
(2)      Adequacy ("completeness," even if brief) of information provided
(3)      Clarity, intelligibility, consistency, coherency of formulation
(4)    Fairness in the presentation of the issues
(5)    Explicitness of your analysis, i.e., show the reasoning by setting forth the details
    of the arguments or reasons for your evaluation
(6)    Independence of thinking in your analysis and evaluation, by working to develop
    the point of view and conclusion you think is most justified.  

In general, it is important to show in your work that you are well-informed about the matters considered (1-2), that you set forth your analysis in a fair, clear, and orderly way (3-5), and that you show that you have engaged in independent reflection upon and critical evaluation of the material according to your own perspective (6).   
Ample opportunity for feedback and consultation on your work will be available during office hours, special appointments, and email.

According to UH Manoa catalogue:
“Student achievement is designated by the following grades: A+, A, A- (excellent), B+, B, B- (above average), C+, C, (average), C-, D+, D, D- (minimal passing), F (failure), CR (credit), NC (no credit), I (incomplete), and L (audit). A grade of I is given to a student who has not completed a small but important part of a semester’s work if the instructor believes that the incomplete was caused by conditions beyond the student’s control. Each student receiving a grade of I should consult his or her instructor promptly to determine the steps to be taken and the deadline to complete the course work for changing the grade of I to a final grade.” Please see the UH Manoa catalogue for additional information: http://www.catalog.hawaii.edu/undergrad-ed/creditsGrades.htm

Grade scale: 100-97%=A+; 96-93%=A; 92-90%=A-; 89-87%=B+; 86-83%=B; 82-80%=B-; 79-77%=C+;
76-73%=C; 72-70%=C-; 69-67%=D+; 66-63%=D; 62-60%=D-; below 59%=F.

Except for the attendance and participation portion of your grade—which can be fully assessed only at the end of the semester, your recorded grades will be posted on Laulima when an assignment has been completed. If you have any question about these matters, let me know.

Regarding matters such as make-up examinations, turning in work late, or receiving an incomplete grade, it is your responsibility to inform me about any difficulties that you may have prior to the scheduled assignments. Except for emergencies and very special circumstances, make-up requests will not be granted. Regarding incomplete grades, UHManoa catalogue says, “A grade of I [incomplete] is given to a student who has not completed a small but important part of a semester’s work if the instructor believes that the incomplete was caused by conditions beyond the student’s control.” It is important that University standards be observed, but I am very willing to consider whatever unusual or unexpected circumstances arise. Please let me know what is happening. Except in cases of errors in calculation, final grades are permanent.

If you have special interests--of whatever sort--that you think might be pursued within the context of this course, please talk with me. If you have special experiences, information, different angles, "wild and crazy ideas," etc., related to any of the issues that we study, please let me know or share such with us in whatever way you think is appropriate. I will be happy to consider special options, i.e., projects or presentations, but do let me know--the sooner the better

Critical inquiry, probing and independent thinking, resourceful discussion and interaction are crucial to the work of the class and to the value that the class will have for you. Thoughtful, active participation during class is very important. Although I will talk a good bit during the semester and attempt to gain clarity and appreciation of the material we consider, your own response to the subject matter is a vital part of the class. This is not a lecture course but one involving dialogical exploration and analysis. Ideas that are important to you should be introduced or pointed out for discussion in a way that you feel is appropriate as we proceed through the course. Free, open, creative, challenging communication of these matters will help advance the understanding of everyone.   

    If you have any questions about your responsibilities or opportunities in this class at any time during the semester, please talk with me. If you have concerns or problems of whatever sort that bear upon the work of this class, let me know. I have office hours scheduled throughout the semester. You are encouraged to come by to talk about anything that is of interest to you. I certainly hope that you will care about the work that you do throughout the semester. I care about your work and your progress in the class and I am very willing to help. If you cannot meet me during the scheduled office hours, we can arrange an appointment for a more convenient time.   

Reading assignments and specific details of course scheduling will be given in class by me. This information will also appear on Laulima and will normally be specified on the course schedule. You should know for every class period exactly what your responsibilities are and what is occurring in class. If you are uncertain, make the effort to find out as soon as possible.

Common sense classroom policies
• Talking in class is encouraged, but don’t distract others by engaging in separate conversations with a neighboring student.
• Turn off your cell phone when in the classroom.
• Recording a lecture and guests/visitors require advanced approval by the instructor.
• Respect the views of others, even as you may disagree. Try to explain and clarify alternative perspectives, values, conclusions.
• Enjoy the classroom environment, the other people and their viewpoints, and enjoy learning.

"The classroom is a special environment in which students and faculty come together to promote learning and growth. It is essential to this learning environment that respect for the rights of others seeking to learn, respect for the professionalism of the instructor, and the general goals of academic freedom are maintained. ... Differences of viewpoint or concerns should be expressed in terms which are supportive of the learning process, creating an environment in which students and faculty may learn to reason with clarity and compassion, to share of themselves without losing their identities, and to develop and understanding of the community in which they live . . . Student conduct which disrupts the learning process shall not be tolerated and may lead to disciplinary action and/or removal from class."

Important University Policies
Students with Disabilities: Upon identifying yourself to the university and the instructor, students with disabilities will receive reasonable accommodation for learning and evaluation. For additional information, contact http://www.hawaii.edu/kokua/
Student Conduct Code (see http://studentaffairs.manoa.hawaii.edu/policies/conduct_code/ )
Academic Dishonesty covers cheating and plagiarism:
“Cheating includes but is not limited to giving or receiving unauthorized assistance during an examination; obtaining unauthorized information about an examination before it is given; submitting another’s work as one’s own; using prohibited sources of information during an examination; fabricating or falsifying data in experiments and other research; altering the record of any grade; altering answers after an examination has been submitted; falsifying any official University record; or misrepresenting of facts in order to obtain exemptions from course requirements.
Plagiarism includes but is not limited to submitting, in fulfillment of an academic requirement, any work that has been copied in whole or in part from another individual’s work without attributing that borrowed portion to the individual; neglecting to identify as a quotation another’s idea and particular phrasing that was not assimilated into the student’s language and style or paraphrasing a passage so that the reader is misled as to the source; submitting the same written or oral or artistic material in more than one course without obtaining authorization from the instructors involved; or "drylabbing," which includes obtaining and using experimental data and laboratory write-ups from other sections of a course or from previous terms.” Examples include:
• Copying someone else's words verbatim (word by word) without using quotation marks.
• Paraphrasing or summarizing someone else's words without citing the source.
• Quoting someone inaccurately.
• Accidentally or intentionally misrepresenting someone else's words or ideas.
• Citing the wrong source.
• Using text, images, graphics, charts, drawings, video, audio, or other files that you did not create yourself and have not cited.
Plagiarism is a serious offense at UH. Depending on the degree to which a student plagiarizes, s/he may:
• Receive no credit for the plagiarized assignment.
• Receive no credit for the course.
• Receive an academic warning published on his or her student record available to all UH administration and faculty.
• Be placed on disciplinary probation.
• Be suspended from classes and from campus activities.
• Be expelled from UH.
• Have a grade removed from a transcript.
• Have a degree and diploma revoked.
• Be sent directly to Hell for eternity.

Computers: Computers and communications links to remote resources are recognized as being integral to the education and research experience. Students are required to have their own computer or have personal easy access to a workstation with the necessary software.
 
Copyright policy: The material available for this course through Laulima has been provided for private study, scholarship, or research. It is used for educational purposes only in accord with copyright laws or assumed to be freely available because it is publically accessible on internet web sites. You may download one copy of the material on any single computer for non-commercial, personal, and educational purposes only. This material should not be modified, should be accurately referenced if you use it in your assignments, and it should be used only for the duration of this course. Beyond this use, no material from the course may be copied, reproduced, re-published, uploaded, posted, transmitted, or distributed in any way without the permission of the writer or original copyright holder. The instructor assumes no responsibility for individuals who improperly use materials provided for the course.
______________________________________________________________________________________

***Subject to Change***
The syllabus and schedule for the class are subject to change in the event of extenuating, unexpected circumstances or adjustments that are helpful to the ongoing affairs of class. If you are absent from class, it is your responsibility to check on announcements. Any changes will be explained in class and also appear on Laulima. If appropriate, you will also be notified by email (at your UH email address).

__________________________________________
Brief Outline
PHILOSOPHY 304:  METAPHYSICS

    Some internet sources that may be helpful.
    Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy   http://www.iep.utm.edu/
    Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy   http://plato.stanford.edu/  
    A Dictionary of Philosophical Terms and Names  http://www.philosophypages.com/dy/
    Wikipedia  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Routledge_Encyclopedia_of_Philosophy     

PART I: INTRODUCTORY CONSIDERATIONS
1.     What is philosophy?
2.    What is metaphysics?
    A.    A look at Aristotle’s “metaphysics”
    Pre-Socratics and Aristotle on metaphysics—being, matter, form, potentiality, actuality, causality
    B.    Proposed identification of metaphysics in Metaphysics: The Big Questions (pp. 1-13)
C.    Some preliminary considerations:
• Constructive (speculative, systematic) approaches to metaphysics: central features
• Analytic (critical, conceptual) approaches to metaphysics; within or independent: central     features
• Descriptive, interpretive, heuristic, therapeutic (soteriological) functions (“performative     force”) of philosophical communication (“felicity conditions”?)
• No metaphysical issue exists in isolation?
• Metaphysics constituted (or generated) indirectly via epistemology, ethics/morality, aesthetics, religion, history, etc.
• Metaphysics and worldviews: having a metaphysics and doing metaphysics. Cases of oral     tradition and “uncritical” worldview traditions, Asian (?) and others.  
• Continued threat of questionable legitimacy and pretending to be a super-science. Can there     be a metaphysics not guilty (free) of questionable prejudices?
• Is having no metaphysics possible? Is having a metaphysics inevitable? Is there more than     one—are there many—metaphysics? Can there be conflicting metaphysics which are     supported by “reality”? Distinction between metaphysics as knowing , being , and doing?
• Non-philosophical metaphysics? The mysteries, occult, spirituality, wicca, miraculous, paranormal, esp, obe, extra-terrestrials, shamanism, astrology, magic, UFOs, mysticism… To what extent must a metaphysics be able to justify its proposals? Can there be a metaphysics of faith, of “it is incomprehensible”?
• Do non-human living beings (dogs, cats, dolphins, and others) have a metaphysics?
• Can there be a metaphysics that is non-therapeutic, one of hopelessness or meaninglessness?

PART II: METAPHYSICS
1.  Investigating metaphysical systems/approaches, with a focus on issues central to these projects.
• MATERIALISM. Selections from Lucretius On the Nature of Things—Reality as material: starting with material entities, parts and composites, unchangables and changes, primary and secondary properties, from lifeless to life, sensation, mind; freedom/determinism; death
        For a different example of qualified atomism, see the monadology of Leibniz      
        For a non-substance, event or process oriented  “dynamic materialism” see process             philosophy/metaphysics: reality as process, states of affairs, etc.
        Is contemporary science a version of metaphysical materialism?        
• IDEALISM. Selections from George Berkeley (L), with reference to the Yoga Sutra (L) and Sankara (Advaita Vedanta) (L)—Reality as mental: starting from mind/consciousness.
        Reference to Yogacara (Vijñ_nav_da) Buddhist approach, e.g., Vasubandhu
• DUALISM. Selections from Plato on the Divided Line, Allegory of the Cave, Symposium (L)—Reality as being & becoming: finding essences (forms) in appearances and ascending to ideas (eid_).
• MONOTHEISM. Selections from Anselm, Thomas Aquinas, Wm. Paley, others (L): Reality as God-originated/dependent: finding the supreme through reason, cosmos, and telos. Creator and created.
• EXISTENTIAL PHENOMENOLOGY. Selections from J-P Sartre, A. Camus, M. Buber—Reality as “To the Things Themselves!” Encountering reality as existence, things, selves, consciousness, ideas, language.

2.       Ancient and Modern Skeptical Challenges: various methods of deconstructing, undermining, exposing.
• Sextus Empiricus, Outlines of Pyrrhonism, Book 1, Chapters 1-13.
• Daodejing #1 The inadequacy of speaking and words.
• Zhuangzi, Sections 1-3. Jump into the boundless! Be a free and easy wanderer!
        What is it like to be a bat or a butterfly?  Thomas Nagel & Zhuangzi
• David Hume: An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (selection)
• Nagarjuna: absence of inherent nature—anti-substantiality (emptiness), no-self, skillful means
•  “Nothing but the facts” (Science): Logical Positivism, Bertrand Russell’s Logical Atomism, Ludwig Wittgenstein of the Tractatus, A.J. Ayer: principle of verification and the elimination of metaphysics and Richard Rorty on language mirroring nature. Farewell to metaphysics and welcome to philosophy as narrative, life-world habitation, storytelling/literature; “In the beginning is the word”? Being as facts, as linguistic constructions, as…?

3.    Modern Resistance to the Denial of Realism: beyond skepticism?
• Descartes—finding certainty in the Meditations
    Film: Waking Life
• Reference to Immanuel Kant—phenomenal-noumenal and regulative structures/ideas; securing the possibility of metaphysics.
• Reference to Schopenhauer and Nietzsche—will and ubermensch (overcoming)

4.    Beyond realism
• Pragmatist response: William James and John Dewey
• Nelson Goodman—Ways of Worldmaking & Richard Rorty
• Ludwig Wittgenstein—language games, grammar. and forms of life
• Reference to deconstruction
• Technological constructive metaphysics: artificial intelligence and virtual realities

5.    Meta-metaphysics
• Plurality of classificatory schemes, from S. Pepper, Richard McKean, Walter Watson, David Dilworth.  Plurality, unity, hierarchy, cyclical, progressive development? Is there, can there be, should there be a world (universal, global) philosophy? Question of commensurability.
• Plurality of qualifying/emergent conditions: the constitution of experience & formation of judgments; reality as engendered by
    --Epistemological origin/foundation: tracking of analysis of sensation and cognition
    --Moral or ethical origin/foundation: tracking through developmental psychology and personal             realization           
    --Contextualist origin/foundation/tracking: historical (social, economic) human-nature                     dialectics--Marx; racist, feminist, classist determinants…
• What are the standards for judging metaphysics?

PART II. ANALYTIC METAPHYSICS. An investigation of particular metaphysical issues selected from  Metaphysics: The Big Questions. Specific readings (to be determined)

_______________________________________
TENTATIVE CLASS SCHEDULE***
Specific reading assignments will be reaffirmed
and, if necessary, adjusted
on Laulima in the ANNOUNCEMENT section


DATE    DAY    TOPIC    ASSIGNMENT
JAN 12    MON    Introduction to the course    
14    WED    What is philosophy?    Notes on Philosophy (available at the Laulima website for this class = (L)
16    FRI    What is metaphysics?
    Overviewthe text Metaphysics: The Big Questions and read pp. 1-13.

19    MON    MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. HOLIDAY    No class
21    WED    On the Nature of Things.
Starting with objects.    Read Lucretius (L)

23    FRI    Atoms, freedom, mind    Lucretius
26    MON    Mind and death    Lucretius
28    WED    Human Knowledge
Starting with mind/consciousness      Read George Berkeley (L)          
30    FRI    Mind/Consciousness    Read Yoga Sutra #1 (L) and
Shankara (L)
FEB 2    MON    Ascent to Unchanging Reality
Starting with appearance and finding their essential identities    Read Plato “Divided Line” and “Cave” (L)
4    WED    “    Plato (L)
6    FRI    “    Plato’s Symposium (L)
9    MON    Reality as God dependent
Starting with God    Read Anselm and Thomas Aquinas (L)
11    WED    Additional supporting arguments     Wm. Paley (L), others?
13    FRI        
16    MON     PRESIDENTS’ DAY HOLIDAY    No class
18    WED    Skeptical concerns: Sextus Empiricus
    Read Sextus (L)
20    FRI    Skeptical concerns: Laozi and Zhuangzi
View Monty Python Argument Clinic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3HaRFBSq9k&feature=related    Read Daodejing #1 and Zhuangzi 1-3  (L)
23    MON    Skeptical concerns: Hume and Nagarjuna    Read Hume and Nagarjuna (L)
25    WED    Logical Positivism: reference to  Bertrand Russell’s Logical Atomism, Ludwig Wittgenstein of the Tractatus, A.J. Ayer Language, Truth, and Logic, Richard Rorty    Youtube info
27    FRI        
MAR 2    MON    Resistance to skepticism: Descartes    Read Meditations (L)
4    WED    Waking Life (film)    
6    FRI    Kant, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche    
9    MON    Pragmatic response, Wm. James & John Dewey    Read James (L)
11    WED    Nelson Goodman, Ludwig Wittgenstein    Read  (L)
13    FRI        
16    MON    Classificatory Schemes: S. Pepper, Richard McKean, Walter Watson, Dilworth    Notes (L)
18    WED        
20    FRI    Final Selection of material to be studied in Metaphysics: the Big Questions    
23-27    MON-FRI    SPRING BREAK HOLIDAY    
30    MON    Focus on topics/material in Metaphysics: the Big Questions    Read… (to be determined)
Schedule of reports (to be determined)
APRIL 1    WED        
3    FRI          
6    MON        
8    WED    APA meeting, Vancouver, CA    Assignment
10    FRI    GOOD FRIDAY HOLIDAY    No class
13    MON    APA meeting, Vancouver, CA    Assignment
15    WED        
17    FRI        
20    MON        
22    WED        
24    FRI        
27    MON           
29    WED        
MAY 1    FRI    Final paper (#4) is due by midnight    
4    MON    Review of material covered and some summary remarks    
6    WED    LAST DAY OF INSTRUCTION    
8    FRI    STUDY DAY    
        FINAL EXAM Monday, May 11 (via Laulima)    


***Subject to Change***

The syllabus and schedule for the class are subject to change in the event of extenuating, unexpected circumstances or adjustments that are helpful to the ongoing affairs of class. If you are absent from class, it is your responsibility to check on announcements. Any changes will be explained in class and also appear on Laulima. If appropriate, you will also be notified by email (at your UH email address).

Some additional references to internet sources may be made over the course of the semester. Your own suggestions will be welcome.

If you have any questions about the schedule at any time, do talk with or email me.