Metaphysics
Schedule
"PI" = Martin & Barresi, eds., Personal Identity (Blackwell, 2002)
"FW" = Kane, ed., Free Will (Blackwell, 2001)
| Wed. Aug. 31 | introduction to the course |
1.
Personal Identity |
|
| Mon. Sep. 5 | Perry, A Dialogue on Personal Identity and Immortality, all |
| Wed. Sep. 7 | Williams, "The Self and the Future," PI pp. 75-91 |
| Fri. Sep. 9 | * first response paper due * |
| Mon. Sep. 12 | Nozick, "Personal Identity through Time," PI pp. 92-114 |
| Wed. Sep. 14 | Parfit, "Why Our Identity Is Not What Matters," PI pp. 115-43 |
| Mon. Sep. 19 | Lewis, "Survival and Identity," PI pp. 144-67 |
| Wed. Sep. 21 | Schechtman, "Empathetic Access," PI pp. 238-59 |
| Mon. Sep. 26 | Korsgaard, "Personal Identity and the Unity of Agency," PI pp. 168-83 |
2.
The Self |
|
| Wed.
Sep. 28 |
Crane, "Mental Substances" - on reserve |
| Mon. Oct. 3 | Strawson, "The Self," PI only pp. 335-63 (skip postscript) |
| Wed. Oct. 5 | Dainton, "The Self and the Phenomenal" - on reserve and available here |
| Mon. Oct. 10 | NO CLASS - FALL BREAK |
| Wed. Oct. 12 | Braude, First Person Plural, excerpts of chs. 3 and 7 - on reserve |
| Fri. Oct. 14 | * no response paper due * |
| Mon. Oct. 17 | Dennett, Consciousness Explained, ch. 5 sec. 1 and ch. 13 - on reserve |
| Wed. Oct. 19 | Varela, Thompson, & Rosch, The Embodied Mind, ch. 4 and excerpts of ch. 6 - on reserve |
| Mon. Oct. 24 | Nagel, "The Objective Self" - on reserve |
3.
Free Will |
|
| Wed. Oct. 26 | Williams, Free Will and Determinism: A Dialogue, pp. 1-11, 17-41, and 49-58 |
| Mon. Oct. 31 | Nielsen, "The Compatibility of
Freedom and Determinism," FW pp. 39-46 Dennett, "I Could Not Have Done Otherwise - So What?" FW pp. 83-94 |
| Wed. Nov. 2 | Frankfurt, "Alternate Possibilities
and Moral Responsibility" - on reserve and available here Frankfurt, "Freedom of the Will and the Concept of a Person," FW pp. 127-44 |
| Mon. Nov. 7 | Wolf, "Sanity and the Metaphysics of Responsibility," FW pp. 145-63 |
| Wed. Nov. 9 | van Inwagen, "The Mystery of Metaphysical
Freedom," FW pp. 189-95 Chisholm, "Human Freedom and the Self," FW pp. 47-58 O'Connor, "The Agent as Cause," FW pp. 196-205 |
| Mon. Nov. 14 | Kane, "Free Will: New Directions for an Ancient Problem" FW only pp. 222-40 (skip pp. 240-3) |
| Wed. Nov. 16 | Wegner, The Illusion of Conscious Will, ch. 1 |
| ~~ Thanksgiving Break ~~ | |
| Mon. Nov. 28 | Wegner, The Illusion of Conscious Will, chs. 2-3 |
| Wed. Nov. 30 | Wegner, The Illusion of Conscious Will, ch. 5 and pp. 254-70 |
| Fri. Dec. 2 | * last response paper due * |
| Mon. Dec. 5 | Wegner, The Illusion of Conscious Will, ch. 9 |
| Wed. Dec. 7 | semester wrap-up |
back to: [ metaphysics main page ]