General provisions

The Department of Philosophy is resonsible for this course.

Entry requirements

General entry requirements and History 1b/1a1+1a2, Social Studies 1b/1a1+1a2 or History A, Civics A

Learning outcomes

The aim of the course is to give a comprehensive introduction to one of the most central questions in metaphysics: How should we understand objects and properties? In working on this question, the students will

• be familiarized with a number of important concept-pairs central to this topic (such as essence-accident, universal-particular, abstract-concrete),
• become able to identify strengths and weaknesses in both historical and contemporaneous theories about objects and properties,
• become better at analysing and evaluating the arguments given in support of the different views we will look at, and
• understand how philosophical views and positions (in this case metaphysical ones) grows out of very few, but deep, theoretical commitments.

Content

We say things like "the table is red," but never "the redness is table." A table seems to be something that can have different properties, and not something that is a property of something else. A table can for example be hard, red, heavy, beautiful etc., but it feels very awkward to say things like "the redness is table" or "the heaviness is table." But are there good philosophical reasons to avoid the quirkier expressions? Is there something in reality that accounts for and supports the linguistic convention governing our way of speaking about ordinary objects? What is a table apart from its hardness, redness, heaviness, four-leggedness, etc.? This course will review the most central philosophical theories about objects and properties, giving attention to both the classical formulations of these theories and their modern versions.

Instruction

Teaching consists of lectures and obligatory seminars.

Assessment

The examination is made in form home assignments and final written exam.