180017 SE Material Objects and Formal Mereology (2025S)
Continuous assessment of course work
Labels
Hinweis der SPL Philosophie:Das Abgeben von ganz oder teilweise von einem KI-tool (z.B. ChatGPT) verfassten Texten als Leistungsnachweis (z.B. Seminararbeit) ist nur dann erlaubt, wenn dies von der Lehrveranstaltungsleitung ausdrücklich als mögliche Arbeitsweise genehmigt wurde. Auch hierbei müssen direkt oder indirekt zitierte Textstellen wie immer klar mit Quellenangabe ausgewiesen werden.Die Lehrveranstaltungsleitung kann zur Überprüfung der Autorenschaft einer abgegebenen schriftlichen Arbeit ein notenrelevantes Gespräch (Plausibilitätsprüfung) vorsehen, das erfolgreich zu absolvieren ist.
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).
- Registration is open from Tu 11.02.2025 09:00 to Mo 17.02.2025 23:59
- Registration is open from Mo 24.02.2025 09:00 to Th 27.02.2025 23:59
- Deregistration possible until Mo 31.03.2025 23:59
Details
max. 25 participants
Language: English
Lecturers
Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N
- Friday 14.03. 11:30 - 13:00 Hörsaal 3F NIG 3.Stock
- Friday 21.03. 11:30 - 13:00 Hörsaal 3F NIG 3.Stock
- Friday 28.03. 11:30 - 13:00 Hörsaal 3F NIG 3.Stock
- Friday 04.04. 11:30 - 13:00 Hörsaal 3F NIG 3.Stock
- Friday 11.04. 11:30 - 13:00 Hörsaal 2G, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/2.Stock, 1010 Wien
- Friday 02.05. 11:30 - 13:00 Hörsaal 3F NIG 3.Stock
- Friday 09.05. 11:30 - 13:00 Hörsaal 3F NIG 3.Stock
- Friday 16.05. 11:30 - 13:00 Hörsaal 3F NIG 3.Stock
- Friday 23.05. 11:30 - 13:00 Hörsaal 3F NIG 3.Stock
- Friday 30.05. 11:30 - 13:00 Hörsaal 3F NIG 3.Stock
- Friday 06.06. 11:30 - 13:00 Hörsaal 2G, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/2.Stock, 1010 Wien
- Friday 13.06. 11:30 - 13:00 Hörsaal 3F NIG 3.Stock
- N Friday 20.06. 11:30 - 13:00 Hörsaal 3F NIG 3.Stock
- Friday 27.06. 11:30 - 13:00 Hörsaal 3F NIG 3.Stock
- Thursday 03.07. 09:45 - 11:15 Hörsaal 2i NIG 2.Stock C0228
Information
Aims, contents and method of the course
Assessment and permitted materials
-- Students are expected to attend and participate in seminars, a maximum of two unexcused absences are permitted.
-- Students are also required to answer 3 reading questions circulated periodically during the semester.
-- Students will complete 2 problem sets assigned during the seminar.
-- Students will also submit a final paper (2.000 to 3.500 words, including footnotes, references etc.).
-- Students are also required to answer 3 reading questions circulated periodically during the semester.
-- Students will complete 2 problem sets assigned during the seminar.
-- Students will also submit a final paper (2.000 to 3.500 words, including footnotes, references etc.).
Minimum requirements and assessment criteria
I. Grading
The reading questions account for 20% of the course grade.
The problem sets account for another 20% of the grade.
The term paper accounts for the remaining 60% of the grade.II. Criteria
The reading questions provide students with an opportunity to demonstrate their understanding of the assigned readings and to engage with the material contained in these readings. These will not directly ask students to describe the content in the relevant text per se, but rather to challenge or assess the author’s arguments. Answers will be relatively brief (a few hundred words at most): they will be assessed for philosophical insight and understanding of the material.Successful answers to the questions on the problem sets will offer a correct answer to the question in a way that demonstrates the student's knowledge and explains how the result was arrived at/proved. Mistakes and errors in the course of such explanations will potentially result in points being deducted.Term papers are assessed as pieces of academic philosophy. Clarity of exposition, originality of thought, strength of argument, and engagement with relevant literature are among the good-making features of a strong term paper. By contrast, poorly written and poorly argued papers will score less well.III. Passing Grade
In order to get a passing grade, the term paper must receive a passing grade, and the average of the problems sets and reading questions must be a passing grade.IV. Required Background Knowledge
While there are no formal prerequisites, it will help to have some experience with formal philosophy and with basic first-order languages. This will be particularly valuable when we consider mereology, which is unavoidably technical in character.
The reading questions account for 20% of the course grade.
The problem sets account for another 20% of the grade.
The term paper accounts for the remaining 60% of the grade.II. Criteria
The reading questions provide students with an opportunity to demonstrate their understanding of the assigned readings and to engage with the material contained in these readings. These will not directly ask students to describe the content in the relevant text per se, but rather to challenge or assess the author’s arguments. Answers will be relatively brief (a few hundred words at most): they will be assessed for philosophical insight and understanding of the material.Successful answers to the questions on the problem sets will offer a correct answer to the question in a way that demonstrates the student's knowledge and explains how the result was arrived at/proved. Mistakes and errors in the course of such explanations will potentially result in points being deducted.Term papers are assessed as pieces of academic philosophy. Clarity of exposition, originality of thought, strength of argument, and engagement with relevant literature are among the good-making features of a strong term paper. By contrast, poorly written and poorly argued papers will score less well.III. Passing Grade
In order to get a passing grade, the term paper must receive a passing grade, and the average of the problems sets and reading questions must be a passing grade.IV. Required Background Knowledge
While there are no formal prerequisites, it will help to have some experience with formal philosophy and with basic first-order languages. This will be particularly valuable when we consider mereology, which is unavoidably technical in character.
Examination topics
I.
The reading questions will be pertain directly to the assigned texts.II.
The topic of the problem sets will be drawn directly from the material presented and studied in class.III.
The topic of the term paper should be related to the issues discussed in class. If in doubt, students should inquire with the instructor whether a particular topic is suitable.
The reading questions will be pertain directly to the assigned texts.II.
The topic of the problem sets will be drawn directly from the material presented and studied in class.III.
The topic of the term paper should be related to the issues discussed in class. If in doubt, students should inquire with the instructor whether a particular topic is suitable.
Reading list
[Please note this list remains provisional and is liable to change]Max Black, “The Identity of indiscernibles”, Mind, (1952), [selections].
Sally Haslanger, “Endurance and Temporary Intrinsics”, Analysis, (1989). [7pp]
Ted Sider, “Temporal parts” in Sider, Hawthorne, Zimmerman (eds), Contemporary debates in metaphysics, (2003). [selections]
Peter Unger, “The Problem of the Many”, Midwest Studies in Philosophy, (1980), selections.
Meg Wallace, Parts and Wholes, Cambridge: UP, 2023.
David Wiggins, “On being in the same place at the same time”, The Philosophical Review, (1968). [7pp]
Sally Haslanger, “Endurance and Temporary Intrinsics”, Analysis, (1989). [7pp]
Ted Sider, “Temporal parts” in Sider, Hawthorne, Zimmerman (eds), Contemporary debates in metaphysics, (2003). [selections]
Peter Unger, “The Problem of the Many”, Midwest Studies in Philosophy, (1980), selections.
Meg Wallace, Parts and Wholes, Cambridge: UP, 2023.
David Wiggins, “On being in the same place at the same time”, The Philosophical Review, (1968). [7pp]
Association in the course directory
Last modified: We 18.06.2025 12:46
The aim of this course is to introduce students to a number of themes, ideas, and techniques in contemporary metaphysics by focusing on questions about material objects.II. Contents
We’ll begin by asking whether two distinct material objects can be in the same place at the same time. At first glance, one might think not, but as we’ll see a number of cases suggest otherwise. Nonetheless, it is natural to think that part of what it is to be a material thing is to occupy space (or space-time) in a way that precludes colocation. We’ll go on, then, to look at various versions of the anti-colocation principle that might avoid potential counterexamples.In the second half, we’ll turn to mereology: the formal study of part/whole relations. We’ll begin by introducing so-called classical extensional mereology—an axiomatic theory of parts and wholes. We’ll examine the formal properties of this theory, before turning to some alternative axiomatic systems that challenge the orthodox view. In the process, we’ll consider the philosophical significance and interest of these theories.In the course of reflecting on these issues, students will be introduced to debates about modality, temporality, and determinacy. The aim of the course is not to give a full account of these phenomena. Nor will students be expected to have a comprehensive grasp of these (vast) issues. Instead, the idea is that by focusing on a number of interrelated questions about the nature of material things, we can illuminate and introduce some central metaphysical debates and thus open up avenues for further research. By the end of the course, students should have a better understanding of the nature and scope of metaphysics and ontology and have begun to develop the ability to make and assess philosophical arguments in this domain.III. Methods
Teaching will involve seminar discussion, reading, problem sets, etc.