¹ú²ú91ÓÈÎ︣ÀûÔÚÏß¹Û¿´

Instructor: Joshua Mozersky

Metaphysics is the attempt to uncover the most general structure of reality. Throughout most of its history, philosophy has been centred on metaphysics. Why? Because philosophy is, in large part, the attempt to understand ourselves, and it is hard to see how we can understand our own nature without understanding the structure of the surroundings that contain and formed us. There is, however, a problem. The method of metaphysics is rational reflection, i.e., thinking carefully and rigorously about reality. This raises a concern: how can even the most careful and logical thinking inform us about the nature of the non-mental world? Won’t it simply tell us about the structure of thought itself, perhaps even only our own thoughts? How, in other words, can the mind reach beyond its own activities to reveal the nature of mind-independent reality, no matter how careful and rigorous its reasoning? In this course, we will explore the relationship between reason and reality by examining various aspects of the world that challenge our understanding, such as the nature of time, identity, properties, necessity, causation and why the universe exists at all. Historical and contemporary perspectives shall be considered throughout.