Universität Wien

180016 VO-L Language and Reality (2019S)

5.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 18 - Philosophie

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

Language: English

Examination dates

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

ACHTUNG!! Der Termin am 14.05.2019 muss leider abgesagt werden!!!

Tuesday 19.03. 16:45 - 18:15 Hörsaal 42 Hauptgebäude, 2.Stock, Stiege 7
Tuesday 26.03. 16:45 - 18:15 Hörsaal 42 Hauptgebäude, 2.Stock, Stiege 7
Tuesday 02.04. 16:45 - 18:15 Hörsaal 42 Hauptgebäude, 2.Stock, Stiege 7
Tuesday 09.04. 16:45 - 18:15 Hörsaal 42 Hauptgebäude, 2.Stock, Stiege 7
Tuesday 30.04. 16:45 - 18:15 Hörsaal 42 Hauptgebäude, 2.Stock, Stiege 7
Tuesday 07.05. 16:45 - 18:15 Hörsaal 42 Hauptgebäude, 2.Stock, Stiege 7
Tuesday 21.05. 16:45 - 18:15 Hörsaal 42 Hauptgebäude, 2.Stock, Stiege 7
Tuesday 28.05. 16:45 - 18:15 Hörsaal 42 Hauptgebäude, 2.Stock, Stiege 7
Tuesday 04.06. 16:45 - 18:15 Hörsaal 42 Hauptgebäude, 2.Stock, Stiege 7
Tuesday 18.06. 16:45 - 18:15 Hörsaal 42 Hauptgebäude, 2.Stock, Stiege 7

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

This course will deal with metaphysical realism and the ways in which it was spelled out and developed by analytic philosophers in the last decades of the twentieth century. We will therefore read authors who "revived" metaphysics in the 1980s-90s, such as David Lewis, David Armstrong, Saul Kripke, and others.

Assessment and permitted materials

A final test will take place on the last day of the course (June 25th).
The test will last 90 minutes and it will consist in 5 open questions, plus a small final section with 6 "true-false" questions.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

I will evaluate the student's capacity to present in a succinct but also exhaustive way the arguments offered by the authors covered during the course. This means that course participants should study in such a way as to: (i) have a clear general picture about the positions held by each author and the main arguments in support of their position. (ii) be able to report such arguments in written form.

Examination topics

All course material will be relevant for the exam. However, practice questions will be made available to help students focus on a limited number of core topics.

Reading list

All readings will be made available on Moodle.

Session 1 - Selection from: Button, Tim (2015). The Limits of Realism. Oxford University Press UK.

Session 2 - Putnam, Hilary (1977). Realism and Reason. Proceedings and Addresses of the American Philosophical Association 50 (6):483-498.

Session 3 - Devitt, Michael (1983). Realism and the renegade Putnam: A critical study of meaning and the moral sciences. Noûs 17 (2):291-301.

Session 4 - Lewis, David (1984). Putnam's paradox. Australasian Journal of Philosophy 62 (3):221 – 236.

Sessions 5-6 - Selection from: Lewis, David (1983). New work for a theory of universals. Australasian Journal of Philosophy 61 (4):343-377.

Session 7 - Selection from: Kripke, Saul (1980). Naming and Necessity. Harvard University Press.

Session 8 - Mackie, Penelope (1998). Identity, time, and necessity. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 98 (1):59–78.

Session 9 - Selection from: Fine, Kit (1994). Essence and modality. Philosophical Perspectives 8:1-16.

Session 10 - Selection from: Fine, Kit (1994). Ontological Dependence. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 95:269 - 290.

Association in the course directory

Last modified: Mo 07.09.2020 15:36