Module description
Metaphysics concerns the basic features of reality, covering topics such as personal identity, persistence, causation, the nature of time, and what kinds of things exist. This course will provide students with a survey of some of the main issues in metaphysics. An emphasis will be placed on critical examination of arguments for and against competing views. Students will have the opportunity to examine and develop their own positions on these issues. We will also consider more generally what metaphysics is and how it is best pursued.
Some sample questions we might tackle include:
- What are we? What does it take for a person to persist over time?
- What does it take for a material object to persist over time?
- What is the nature of time? Can there be time without change?
- What is causation?
- How does metaphysics apply to the social world?
- Is metaphysics worth pursuing? What is the best way to approach metaphysics?
Assessment details
Assessment for Study Abroad student at Kings for full year: 1 x 2 hour in person examination (100%) in Assessment Period 2
Alternative Assessment for Study Abroad students at Kings for Semester 1 ONLY: 1 x 2,000 word essay (100%) due January 2026
Educational aims & objectives
The Metaphysics module aims to give students the intellectual equipment to investigate for themselves the issues mentioned in the module description above on the basis of careful reading and critical reflection upon the key writings in the area.
Learning outcomes
By the end of the module, students will be able to demonstrate intellectual, transferable, and practicable skills appropriate to a level 4 module and in particular they will have
- developed a capacity for philosophical argument concerning central metaphysical topics
- acquired a knowledge of some of the key philosophical writings concerning these topics
- understood the nature of some of the central problems in metaphysics
- encountered and evaluated a number of attempts to solve the philosophical problems under discussion
- acquired an understanding of how problems in metaphysics relate to broader philosophical debates in areas of logic, epistemology, philosophy of mind, and ethics
- acquired an ability to relate the questions discussed to the work of philosophers studied in other modules
- been encouraged to read with great care and reflect upon some difficult texts as well as introductory and secondary material.
Teaching pattern
One two-hour weekly lecture and one one-hour weekly seminar over ten weeks.