In this course we'll survey some of the central topics in metaphysics. Here are some of the questions that we're likely to look at. Do things that exist now have some special status over things that existed in the past or will exist in the future? Can distinct objects be in exactly the same place at exactly the same time? What are you (a material object?, an immaterial soul?), and what kinds of changes can you undergo without ceasing to exist? Is the idea of someone traveling through time to the distant past or far future somehow incoherent? In virtue of what are some propositions necessarily true or necessarily false, whereas others are merely contingently true or contingently false? Throughout the sciences certain propositions are described as laws of nature, but what makes a proposition a law of nature? Is the existence of free will compatible with the results of our best scientific theories (which purport to show that our world is governed by deterministic laws of nature)? Finally, can all facts be explained? What about facts like that our universe is conducive to life, or that there is something rather than nothing? Our focus throughout will be on contemporary work. No prior familiarity with metaphysics will be presupposed. Undergrad Prerequisites: PHIL 80 and at least one other PHIL course numbered over PHIL 99 (both courses taken prior to this term.)
4 units · Letter or Credit/No Credit
In this course we'll survey some of the central topics in metaphysics. Here are some of the questions that we're likely to look at. Do things that exist now have some special status over things that existed in the past or will exist in the future? Can distinct objects be in exactly the same place at exactly the same time? What are you (a material object?, an immaterial soul?), and what kinds of changes can you undergo without ceasing to exist? Is the idea of someone traveling through time to the distant past or far future somehow incoherent? In virtue of what are some propositions necessarily true or necessarily false, whereas others are merely contingently true or contingently false? Throughout the sciences certain propositions are described as laws of nature, but what makes a proposition a law of nature? Is the existence of free will compatible with the results of our best scientific theories (which purport to show that our world is governed by deterministic laws of nature)? Finally, can all facts be explained? What about facts like that our universe is conducive to life, or that there is something rather than nothing? Our focus throughout will be on contemporary work. No prior familiarity with metaphysics will be presupposed. Undergrad Prerequisites: PHIL 80 and at least one other PHIL course numbered over 99 (both courses taken prior to this term.)
Offered in Winter 2026, Spring 2026 at Stanford University.