All Courses

An introduction to metaphysics, the study of the fundamental nature of the world and what it contains. We'll examine three kinds of entities, moving from the simpler to the more complex: material objects, people, and social objects. Are there really any tables, or just particles that make them up? How can something change over time and still be the same thing? Is the mind is different from the body? Can we ever act freely? The course also looks at social objects like laws, corporations, and works of art, giving us the opportunity to investigate the connection between metaphysics and pressing issues involving concepts such as gender and race. The course concludes with reflections on metaphysics itself, the tools it employs, and its status as a philosophical discipline.