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  6. PH454D: RESEARCH RELATED SUBJECT 1

PH454D: RESEARCH RELATED SUBJECT 1 (2014-2015)

Last modified: 28 Jun 2018 10:27


Course Overview

Research Related Subject 1 - The Metaphysics of Possible Worlds. In almost any area of contemporary philosophy, eventually you'll encounter talk of possible worlds. Physicalism, counterfactuals, necessity and possibility, propositions,mental content are often analyzed in terms of possible worlds. What should we make of this possible worlds talk? Should we take it as literal truth? Is there really a possible world in which I'm a concert violist? If so, what sorts of things are possible worlds? Are they concrete spacetimes or abstract representations? Or is possible worlds talk a useful fiction? We’ll consider this and more.

Course Details

Study Type Undergraduate Level 4
Term Second Term Credit Points 30 credits (15 ECTS credits)
Campus None. Sustained Study No
Co-ordinators
  • Dr Stephan Torre

What courses & programmes must have been taken before this course?

None.

What other courses must be taken with this course?

None.

What courses cannot be taken with this course?

None.

Are there a limited number of places available?

No

Course Description

In almost any area of contemporary philosophy that you study, you will eventually encounter talk of possible worlds.  Physicalism, naturalism in ethics, counterfactuals, necessity and possibility, propositions, mental and linguistic content, to name a few, are often stated or analyzed in terms of possible worlds. What should we make of all this possible worlds talk? Should we take it as the literal truth? Is there really a possible world in which I am a concert violist? If so, then what sorts of things are possible worlds? Are they concrete spacetimes like the actual world? Or are they abstract representations such as sets of sentences or numbers? Or perhaps, all this possible worlds talk is a useful fiction that philosophers participate in and, strictly speaking, there are no such things. Or perhaps it's not really the best way of capturing our modal talk and should be abandoned. In this course, we will consider these questions.  We will look at parts of David Lewis's influential book On the Plurality of Worlds as well as work by Adams, Bennett, Bricker, Chisholm, Divers, van Inwagen, Kripke, Melia, Plantinga, Rosen, and Vetter


Contact Teaching Time

Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.

Teaching Breakdown

More Information about Week Numbers


Details, including assessments, may be subject to change until 30 August 2024 for 1st term courses and 20 December 2024 for 2nd term courses.

Summative Assessments

1st Attempt: one 3500 word essay (50%), 1 two-hour exam (40%) and a seminar presentation (10%). Resit: There is no resit for year 4 students.

Formative Assessment

Feedback on essays; individually arranged conversations during office hours.

Feedback

Written on essay and essay marking sheet; office hours.

Course Learning Outcomes

None.
 

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