PHIL127 CM - History of Metaphysics

This class surveys the history of metaphysics. Topics covered may include: Arguments for and against the existence of God; Accounts of universals including Plato’s forms; atomism; monism; causation; the laws of nature; time; the existence of a fundamental level of reality. Also, we address arguments that metaphysics is objectionable because it is either not meaningful, knowable, of pragmatic relevance, or a symptom of a broader problem. Figures may include: Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Ockham, Spinoza, Leibniz, Hume, Hegel, Nietzsche, Bradley, McTaggart, Russell, Dewey, Heidegger.

Prerequisite: One prior course in philosophy or permission of the instructor.

Offered: Every other year

Credit: 1

Course Number: PHIL127 CM