Metaphysics

There are two versions of this course. The introductory level course focuses on three main topics: (1) time, (2) identity, and (3) freedom. The content of the upper-level course changes by semester. It typically focuses on puzzles associated with material coincidence, properties, and time.

Syllabi

• PHIL126W Syllabus

Handouts and Slides

Identity

1. What is Metaphysics?
2. The Method of Metaphysics
3. Qualitative and Numerical Identity Slides, handout
4. Soulful theory of diachronic identity Slides, handout
5. Physicalist theory of diachronic identity Slides, handout
6. Psychological theory of diachronic identity Slides, handout
7. Hybrid theories Slides, handout
8. Fusing persons Slides, handout
9. Intermittent Objects Slides, handout

Free Will

1. What is free will? Slides, handout)
2. Is free will possible?
3. Can we be free if we are determined?
4. Can we be free if the world is indeterministic?
5. Why deliberate?
6. Should we punish criminals?

Texts

Accessible HTML versions of handouts are available if needed.

• An Introduction to Metaphysics: Identity, Free Will, and Time (PHIL126W).
• Metaphysics Seminar: Composition and Time (Spring 2025).
• Metaphysics Seminar: Ontology, Time, and Persistence (Fall 2022).

Study guides

• Exam 1 Study Guide

Videos

• Death, Well-being, and the Difference-Making Principle
• Four Dimensionalism, A Puzzle of Material Coincidence, and the Humanistic Consequences of 4D
• Experience and Non-Present Objects
• Four Theories of Time - An Introduction
• Letting the Child Drown - Moral Indifference in a World of Possible Worlds
• Ontological Commitment and Paraphrase
• The triviality of ontology partially considered: Permissivism about abstracta