Overview
Description
Theories concerning the nature of reality, such as materialism, Platonism, essentialism and anti-realism, and topics such as mind, space, time and causality.
Requirements
Prerequisites
- 6 credits of philosophy
Original catalog text
Prerequisites
6 credits of philosophy.
Units
Lecture3
Learning Outcomes
- state a thesis about a central problem in metaphysics, and provide evidence and argument (including replies to counter-arguments) in its defense.
- explain and interpret the ideas associated with philosophical theories in the contemporary literature in metaphysics.
- distinguish better and worse reasoning, and recognize conceptual relationships and patterns of inference (in contemporary metaphysical theories).
- show what is at stake in abstract debates in metaphysics, and indicate how positions in these debates might have practical implications.