PP  229  THEORIES  OF  REALITY    

 

  WINTER  TERM  2016  

Time:  Tuesdays  and  Thursday  2:30  –  3:50  PM   Location:  1C17  

  Instructor:  Dr.  Behrendt  

 

Office:  Seminary  Building,  room  106   Office  Hours:  Tuesdays,  10:00  AM  -­‐  noon   Phone:  519  884  0710  ext.  2969   Email:  [email protected]   Contacting  me:  email  to  above  address  (do  not  use  MyLS  email)  

  Text:     Reading  Metaphysics,  Helen  Beebee  and  Julian  Dodd,  eds.  (available  at  Bookstore;   you  are  expected  to  have  a  copy;  no  concession  will  be  made  to  students  who  have   problems  with  assignments  due  to  failure  to  own  a  copy  of  the  text)     Course  Requirements:   • Class  exercises/participation:    10  %   • In-­‐class  test:    20  %   • Two  papers:  20  %  and  25  %     • Exam  (during  University  exam  period,  April  7-­‐23):    25  %     see  below  for  details  of  course  requirements     Grades  Policy:     By  registering  for  this  course  you  agree  to  its  terms,  including  attendance,   participation,  and  assignment  deadlines.    This  is  not  an  online  course;  attendance  is   expected.    If  your  attendance  is  poor  you  may  be  barred  from  taking  the  final  exam.     All  policies  on  late  penalties  and  missed  test/exams  are  outlined  below  under   Course  Requirement  Details  and  are  strictly  adhered  to.    If  you  have  a  legitimate   reason  for  not  meeting  a  course  requirement  or  deadline  you  must  let  me  know  at   the  time.    I  do  not  negotiate  final  grades:  there  is  no  “makeup  work”  for  the  course,  

and  once  final  grades  are  in  it  is  far  too  late  to  inform  me  of  any  issues  you  had   during  the  term.     Technology  Policy:     Laptop/tablet  can  be  used  for  taking  notes,  and  that  is  all.    If  you  are  using  it  for   some  other  purpose,  you  will  be  asked  to  stop;  if  you  persist,  you  may  lose  your   participation  points  for  the  term.    Anyone  being  distracted  by  someone  else’s  laptop   can  come  to  me  in  confidence  and  I  will  deal  with  the  offender.    No  other  devices   (recording;  phone,  etc.)  can  be  used  during  class  time.         Cell  phones  are  barred:  if  you  use  a  cell  phone  during  class  you  will  lose  your   participation  grades  for  that  week.    If  you  continue  to  use  it  after  being  asked  to   stop,  you  will  lose  your  participation  points  for  the  term.  

 

PP  229:  COURSE  REQUIREMENT  DETAILS    

In-­‐class  exercises  and  participation:     There  are  in-­‐class  exercises  and  discussions  throughout  the  term.  A  short  piece  of   written  work  will  be  a  part  of  some  of  these  exercises,  to  be  handed  in  during  class   as  verification  of  your  participation.    These  will  receive  full  grades  provided  you   understood  and  made  a  concerted  effort  to  answer  the  question.  You  are  expected  to   come  to  class.    Dates  for  written  work  will  not  be  announced  in  advance  and  cannot  be   made  up.    If  you  are  absent  you  lose  exercise/participation  grades  unless  a   documented  emergency  or  illness  prevented  you  from  attending,  and  you  bring  this   to  my  attention  at  the  time.     In-­‐class  test:     This  takes  place  in  regular  class  time.    It  is  on  the  text  and  in-­‐class  material  covered   up  until  that  time.    A  missed  test  cannot  be  made  up  unless  all  the  following  apply:   (a) An  emergency  or  serious  illness  has  occurred   (b) You  inform  me  as  soon  as  possible  of  the  situation:  email  is  best   (c) You  provide  legitimate  documentation/verification       If  the  situation  is  not  of  an  emergency  nature,  or  you  cannot  provide  documentation,   or  you  fail  to  let  me  know  immediately,  your  request  will  not  be  considered.     Exam:     To  take  place  during  University-­‐scheduled  exam  period:  April  7-­‐23,  2016.    You  must   be  available  throughout  this  time;  exams  will  not  be  re-­‐arranged  for  planned  or   predicted  absences  of  a  non-­‐emergency  nature.    Note  the  following,  as  found  in  the   WLU  Undergraduate  Calendar  under  Student  Regulations:  “Any  student  who,  in  the   opinion  of  instructors,  is  absent  too  frequently  from  lectures  or  laboratory  periods   will  be  reported  to  the  dean  of  the  faculty.  On  the  recommendation  of  the   department  concerned,  such  a  student  after  due  warning  by  the  dean  shall  be   debarred  from  taking  the  final  examination  in  that  course.”  

Papers:       Topic: questions/topics will be posted on MyLS pages under Content. These will include further instructions on the nature of the paper and my expectations for it, which will also be outlined in class. Format: Paper one: 3-4 pages Paper two: 4-5 pages Page length refers to actual text (i.e. not counting all title/class/name information, Works Cited, etc.), double-spaced, normal margins,12-pt font, no line-breaks between paragraphs (use indentation). Citations/references: a guide will be posted on MyLS under Content: please follow this.     Due  dates  and  submission:     Paper  one  due  Fri.  Jan.  29     Paper  two  due  Fri.  April  1       To  be  submitted  to  the  appropriate  My  Learning  Space  dropbox  by  11:59  PM  on   those  dates.    After  that  time  papers  will  be  deducted  5%  per  whole  or  part  day  late   for  up  to  seven  days,  after  which  they  receive  zero.    It is your responsibility to confirm that the correct submission has gone through before exiting the program. The  due  date  is   not  negotiable  unless  an  emergency  or  serious  illness  has  occurred,  and  you  inform   me  immediately,  and  provide  documentation;  your  request  will  not  be  considered  if   you  fail  to  meet  any  one  of  these  requirements.  Please  see  below  on  WLU   Regulations:  Faculty  of  Arts  Policy  on  Academic  Responsibilities  to  remind  yourself   of  your  responsibilities  and  some  of  the  various  activities  that  do  not  constitute   valid  reasons  for  late  work.       Grading:  Grading  will  be  based  largely  on  the  following:     (a) accuracy  and  sensitivity  to  the  philosophical  texts  (it  is  imperative  that  you   read  and  refer  to  the  actual  philosophical  works  and  not  merely  to  the  editors’   commentary  and/or  introduction,  or  class  notes)     (b) sensitivity  to  class  lectures  and  discussions  (while  your  essays  are  first  and   foremost  about  the  philosophical  texts,  inability  to  correctly  interpret  or   understand  those  texts  due  to  ignorance  of  the  content  of  class  lectures  and   discussions  will  be  penalized)   (c) quality  of  writing  style  and  organization  (this  is  not  a  minor  element  of  the   paper;  hastily  written,  poorly  organized  papers  and/or  those  with  consistent  or   egregious  grammatical  errors  will  lose  substantial  grades)   (d) ability  to  follow  instructions  (papers  that  do  not  answer  an  assigned  essay   question  or  disregard  instructions  provided  re.  length,  formatting,  citations  and   references,  etc.,  will  lose  grades)  

PP  229:  READING  SCHEDULE  

  The  paper  and  test  dates  are  fixed,  but  the  reading  schedule  is  subject  to  minor   change;  any  changes  will  be  announced  in  class  and  on  MyLearningSpace  pages  

 

Week  1  (Jan.  5  &  7):  Introduction,  pp.  1-­‐8;  ch.  3,  pp.  100-­‐106  (Realism  and  Anti-­‐ Realism:  Introduction)     Week  2  (Jan.  12  &  14):  ch.  3,  pp.  106-­‐125  (Realism  and  Anti-­‐Realism:  Davidson   paper  and  commentary)     Week  3  (Jan.  19  &  21):  ch.  3,  pp.  125-­‐145  (Realism  and  Anti-­‐Realism:  Nagel  paper   and  commentary)       Week  4  (Jan.  26  &  28):  ch.  4,  pp.  146-­‐160  (essay  writing  discussion;  Realism  and   Nominalism:  Introduction;  Devitt  paper  and  commentary)  Paper  1  due  Friday  Jan.   29     Week  5  (Feb.  2  &  4):  ch.  4,  pp.  160-­‐174  (Realism  and  Nominalism:  Devitt  cont’d.;   Armstrong  paper  and  commentary)       Week  6  (Feb.  9  &  11):  Tuesday  Feb.  9:  in-­‐class  test  ;  ch.  6,  pp.  204-­‐214   (Persistence  over  Time:  Introduction;  first  Lewis  paper  and  commentary)       Week  7  (Feb.  23  &  25):  ch.  6,  pp.  214-­‐223  (Persistence  over  Time:  first  Lewis   paper  cont’d;  Haslanger  paper  and  commentary)     Week  8  (March  1  &  3):  ch.  6,  pp.  223-­‐233  and  ch.  1,  pp.  9-­‐13  (Persistence  over   Time:  second  Lewis  paper  and  commentary.  Personal  Identity:  Introduction)     Week  9  (March  8  &  10):  ch.  1,  pp.  13-­‐36  (Personal  Identity:  Parfit  paper  and   commentary)     Week  10  (March  15  &  17):  ch.  1,  pp.  36-­‐59  (Personal  Identity:  Schechtman  paper   and  commentary)       Week  11  (March  22  &  24):  ch.  2,  pp.  60-­‐82  (Free  Will:  Introduction;  van  Inwagen   paper  and  commentary)     Week  12  (March  29  &  April  31):  ch.  2,  pp.  82-­‐97  (Free  Will:  Dennett  paper  and   commentary)  Paper  2  due  Friday  April  1    

 

 

WLU  REGULATIONS  

  Faculty  of  Arts  Policy  on  Academic  Responsibilities  (excerpt):     By  enrolling  and  remaining  in  a  course,  students  have  accepted  responsibility  for  all   course  components  according  to  the  dates  specified  in  the  syllabus  and   Undergraduate  Calendar.  All  this  being  the  case,  the  Faculty  of  Arts  advises  students   and  instructors  that:     •

• •

•

Involvement  in  extra-­‐  and-­‐co-­‐curricular  activities  (such  as  sports  practices,   Fashion’N  Motion,  St.  Patrick’s  Day  events,  etc.),  does  not  exempt  students  in  any   way  from  their  academic  responsibilities.   Students  should  understand  that  it  is  their  responsibility  to  balance  the  work   requirements  associated  with  different  courses.   Absence  from  class  due  to  work,  travel,  or  other  reasons  does  not  exempt   students  in  any  way  from  their  academic  responsibilities.  It  is  expected  that   students  will  schedule  their  work  and  travel  plans  to  fit  with  their  academic   responsibilities  and  not  vice  versa.   Instructors  will  reasonably  accommodate  absences  due  to  medical,  family  or   other  emergencies.  Unless  their  instructor  has  specifically  said  otherwise,   students  should  assume  that  they  will  need  to  provide  formal  documentation  from   the  relevant  source  (medical,  legal,  governmental,  etc.)  to  be  considered  for  such   an  accommodation.  

  Student  Awareness  of  the  Accessible  Learning  Centre:   Students  with  disabilities  or  special  needs,  are  advised  to  contact  Laurier’s   Accessible  Learning  Centre  for  information  regarding  its  services  and  resources.       Academic  and  Research  Misconduct   Students  are  expected  to  be  aware  of  and  abide  by  University  regulations  and   policies,  as  outlined  in  the  current  on-­‐line  Undergraduate  Calendar;  see   http://www.wlu.ca/calendars    Academic  misconduct  is  an  act  by  a  student,  or  by   students  working  on  a  team  project,  which  may  result  in  a  false  evaluation  of  the   student(s),  or  which  represents  a  deliberate  attempt  to  unfairly  gain  an  academic   advantage.  Laurier  has  an  established  policy  with  respect  to  cheating  on   assignments  and  examinations,  which  the  student  is  required  to  know.…In  addition  to   a  failure  in  the  course,  a  student  may  be  suspended  or  expelled  from  the  University   for  cheating  and  the  offence  may  appear  on  one’s  transcript,  in  which  event  the   offence  can  have  serious  consequences  for  one’s  business  or  professional  career.       Laurier  uses  software  that  can  check  for  plagiarism.  Students  may  be  required  to   submit  their  written  work  in  electronic  form  and  have  it  checked  for  plagiarism.   Students  are  to  adhere  to  the  Policy  Governing  the  Use  of  Information  Technology.   This  Policy  and  resulting  actions  for  breaches  are  stated  in  the  current   Undergraduate  Calendar.