Topics in Metaphysics
PHIL 390
Spring 2022
| Section:
01
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| This course may be repeated for credit. |
If I say to you, "It's been a very warm fall," and you reply, "Yeah, I think so too," do we not think the same thing? Doesn't this mean that there is a thing that we both think? This seminar is devoted to the question: is there indeed a thing that we both think, and, if so, what is it? We start with the view that this thing is a "thought," which represents the world as being a certain way. We then move to a contrasting view that the thing is a "proposition," which an entity composed of items in the world, rather than a representation of the world. We next consider a view on which the thing is what is common to mental acts that we perform and express by saying what we said to one another. The next view we'll examine is that the thing is a "fact" about me and you, which represents a fact about the world. Finally, we will consider the view that there is no thing at all that we both think. Throughout our discussions, we will keep in mind something obvious: sometime what we think is true, and sometimes it is false. In this way, we will see how the metaphysics of thinking intertwines with the metaphysics of truth and falsity, and thereby also with the metaphysics of reason. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA PHIL |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: PHIL293 |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (PHIL)(PHIL-Philosophy)(PHIL-Social Jus) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: 90% or above |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Classic and contemporary sources.
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Examinations and Assignments:
One seminar paper, and possibly also other assignments. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
This is an advanced seminar in philosophy, and so students will need to have a general background in the history of philosophy, such as acquired from Phil 201 or 202, and some knowledge of logic, such as acquired from Phil 231, Phil 290, or Math 243, and probably also one course in philosophy beyond the introductory level. |
| Instructor(s): Shieh,Sanford Times: ....R.. 07:10PM-10:00PM; Location: RUSSMILLET; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 15 | | SR major: 6 | JR major: 5 | | |
| Seats Available: 9 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: 2 | JR non-major: 2 | SO: X | FR: X |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 0 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
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