Philosophy Department


1200 Academy St. Kalamazoo, MI 49006

PHI 585

Metaphysics and Mind

Professor Ken Richman

201 Humphrey House
tel: 337-7077

Course Goals

This course will begin with a general discussion of metaphysics.  We will then explore two areas of contemporary metaphysics in some depth: modal realism and philosophy of mind.  Modal realism is the thesis that not everything that exists is actual, that positing the existence of things that are merely possible and not actual can help us make sense of our other ideas about what the world is like.  Philosophy of mind attempts to explain the relationship between mental properties such as beliefs and physical properties such as weight and shape. This is an advanced course intended for students with either at least two previous courses in philosophy or extensive coursework in psychology or computer science.  Students who do not fit this profile are strongly urged to look elsewhere for an appropriate course.

Required Texts

Laurence, Stephen, and Cynthia Macdonald, ed.s. Contemporary Readings in the Foundations of Metaphysics.  Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1998.

Lycan, William G.  Mind and Cognition: A Reader.  Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1990.

Required Work

* Attend and participate in all class meetings
* Read assignments from the text before each class meeting
* Complete a series of brief, unannounced in-class quizzes
* Write both rough and final drafts of three 4 - 6 page papers on assigned topics
   (rough drafts will be due in weeks 2, 5 and 9; final drafts will be due in weeks 3, 6 and 11)

Grading

Your grade will depend equally on four factors: the three papers and the quizzes. The frequency and quality of your class participation can also affect your final grade for the course, especially if your average for the course falls between two grades. The quizzes will consist of short questions such as definitions and true/false. Quizzes will not be announced, and there will be no make-up quizzes. Quiz grades will be on a percentage basis. Students who must miss quizzes because of true emergencies, illness or religious holidays are required to notify me in advance. Students with excused absences will have their quiz grades computed as a percentage of a lower number of points, depending on how many points were on the quizzes missed. Quizzes missed with no excused absence will receive no credit. Assignments and deadlines for the papers will be distributed in class. Late papers will be accepted at a penalty of one letter grade per day. No excuses will be accepted for an assignment after the deadline has passed.

Readings

We will discuss the following readings.  Reading assignments will be announced in class for the following meeting.  Except where otherwise noted, the readings for the first two units can be found in the Laurence and Macdonald volume and the readings for the Philosophy of Mind unit can be found in the Lycan volume.  This list is subject to change.  More readings may be added if there is time.
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Updated 17 March 2000