Entry requirements

Eligible is the person who fulfils the requirements for a bachelor's degree in the humanities or has a corresponding

foreign degree

Learning outcomes

The aim of the course is to provide students with thorough knowledge of the contemporary discussion of grounding and

fundamentaity, and about related questions. The focus is on Karen Bennett's influential work on these questions, primarily

in her book Making Things Up (Oxford University Press, 2017).

After the course the student is expected to have knowlede of what according to Bennett characterizes what she calls

"building relations" (where the notion of building is meant to be somewhat more general than the notion of grounding),

including how questions about causation relate to questions about building, and how investigations of fundamentality and

nonfundamentality relate to questions about building. The students are also expected to achieve the ability to

independently analyse and critically discuss theses and arguments regarding these issues.

Content

The past decade questions about grounding, fundamentality and ontological dependence have been central within

analytic metaphysics. Karen Bennett's book Making Things Up (Oxford University Press, 2017) is an important contribution

to this debate. Bennett discusses the family of relations she calls building relations, and investigates their properties. In

connection with this she also discusses fundamentality and nonfundamentality. With Bennett's book as the basis , the

cours provides a thorough introduction to the contemporary debate over these questions.

Instruction

Instruction will take the form of seminars, with focus on discussion.It is obligatory for the students to attend Bennett's

three Hägerström lectures.

Assessment

The examination consists of a written take-home exam.