Late outlines and papers will, absent an extension from me, lose 2% of the total score per calendar day, to a maximum of 20%. If you need an extension, you must request one by email before the due date.  The short paper and the final paper must both be completed to pass the unit. 

In philosophy, academic honesty is taken very seriously. Misrepresenting other's work as your own will be grounds for a zero on the assignment in question and, if severe enough, referral to the Faculty Disciplinary Committee. If you have questions about how to properly cite work or how to credit sources, please talk to me and see also the  Academic Honesty Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/academic_honesty/policy.html

For the first half of this course, we'll use the following textbook. Please buy this book before the course begins. 

John W. Carroll and Ned Markosian. (2010). Introduction to Metaphysics. Cambridge University Press. 

For the second half, we'll use selected articles which will be uploaded on iLearn. 

Week Topics                                                           

1             Course intro, what is metaphysics?                                        

Essential reading: Ch. 1 of Carroll & Markosian (19 pages)        

2             Causation                                                          

Essential reading: Ch. 2 of Carroll & Markosian (24 pages)

3             Free will                                                             

Essential reading: Ch. 3 of Carroll & Markosian (33 pages)        

4             Laws of nature                                                 

Essential reading: Ch. 4 of Carroll & Markosian (23 pages)

5             Personal identity                                            

Essential reading: Ch. 5 of Carroll & Markosian (29 pages)

6             Mental states                                                   

Essential reading: Ch. 6 of Carroll & Markosian (25 pages)

7             Time                                                                    

Essential reading: Ch. 7 of Carroll & Markosian (24 pages)

Midterm break

8             Material objects                              

Essential reading: Ch. 8 of Carroll & Markosian (42 pages)

9             Art

Essential reading: Davies, S. (2005). The ontology of art. In J. Levinson (ed.), The Oxford handbook of aesthetics (pp. 156-180). Oxford University Press.

10           Artifacts                                                             

Essential reading:

• Houkes, W.N. & Vermaas, P. (2009). Artefacts in analytic metaphysics. Techne, 13(2), 74-81.
• Kroes, P. & Meijers, A. (2006). The dual-nature of technical artifacts. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A, 37(1), 1-4.
• Heersmink, R. (2014). The metaphysics of cognitive artefacts. Philosophical Explorations. DOI: 10.1080/13869795.2014.910310

11           Virtual reality

                Essential reading:

• Brey, P. (2014). The physical and social reality of virtual reality. In M. Grimshaw (ed.), Oxford handbook of virtuality, (pp. 42-54). Oxford University Press.
• Mooradian, N. (2006). Virtual reality, ontology, and value. Metaphilosophy, 37(5), 673-690.

12           Religion

Essential reading:

• Wainwright, W. (2012). Concepts of god. In Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
• Himma, K. (2015). Anselm: Ontological argument for god's existence. In Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

13           Course summary

Disruption to Studies Policy - what is it?

The University recognises that students may experience disruptions that adversely affect their academic performance in assessment activities.  Support Services are provided by the University to assist students through their studies.  Whilst advice and recommendations may be made to a student, it is ultimately the student's responsibility to access these services as appropriate.

The Disruption to Studies Policy applies only to serious and unavoidable disruptions that arise after a study period has commenced.  The full Disruption to Studies Policy can be found here.

Serious and Unavoidable Disruption: The University classifies a disruption as serious and unavoidable if it:

• could not have reasonably been anticipated, avoided or guarded against by the student; and
• was beyond the student's control; and
• caused substantial disruption to the student's capacity for effective study and/or completion of required work; and
• occurred during an event critical study period and was at least three (3) consecutive days duration, and / or
• prevented completion of a final examination.

Students with a pre-existing disability/health condition or prolonged adverse circumstances may be eligible for ongoing assistance and support.  Such support is governed by other policies and may be sought and coordinated through Campus Wellbeing and Support Services.

How to submit a Disruption to Studies Notification?

NOTIFICATION The Disruption to Studies Notification must be completed and submitted online through www.ask.mq.edu.au within five (5) working days of the commencement of the disruption. In the situation where a student requires a proxy to submit it on their behalf, this will be taken into account on submission of appropriate evidence as detailed below.

In submitting a Disruption to Studies Notification, a student is acknowledging that they may be required to undertake additional work.  The time and date, deadline or format of any required extra assessable work as a result of a Disruption to Studies Notification is not negotiable.  Further, in submitting a Disruption to Studies Notification, a student is agreeing to make themself available so that they can complete any extra work as required.

VALIDITY Supporting documentation must be submitted within five (5) working days of submitting the Disruption to Studies Notification.  Refer to the Disruption to Studies: Supporting Evidence Schedule for information/examples of supporting documentary evidence relevant to the disruption event(s).

Once supporting documentation has been supplied, a determination of whether the disruption meets the Serious and Unavoidable criteria will commence.

All original documentation submitted regarding the disruption must be retained by the student as this may be requested by the University at any time.  In this event, students will be provided 10 business days to submit the original documentation.

WITHDRAWAL OF NOTICE OF DISRUPTION A student may withdraw their Disruption to Studies Notification up to the point where the determination of whether it is Serious and Unavoidable has been made. After this determination, the student may not withdraw the Disruption to Studies Notification and must submit themselves to partake in the assessment activities organised by the Unit Convenor.

Disruptions relating to medical circumstances

Where the particular circumstances pertaining to the disruption are medical in nature, a completed Professional Authority Form is required to be submitted with the Disruption to Studies Notification. Medical certificates will not be accepted as supporting documentation.

Refer to the Disruption to Studies: Supporting Evidence Schedule for details regarding the Professional Authority that is relevant to the disruption event.  Students can contact staff in Campus Wellbeing and Support Services for professional guidance on medical circumstances relating to a disruption event or to the completion of a Professional Authority Form.

The University may contact the Registered Health Professional or their practice to verify the authenticity of any Professional Authority Form or other supporting information provided or to obtain further information from the Registered Health Professional regarding the impact of the medical condition on the student's ability to complete the assessment task and/or final examination.

Prior conditions

Conditions existing prior to commencing a unit of study are covered by other policies, except in the event of deterioration or exacerbation of the condition. The student is responsible for managing their workload in light of any known or anticipated problems. Students with a pre-existing disability/health condition may contact Campus Wellbeing and Support Services for information on available support.

Disruptions relating to non-medical circumstances

Where the particular circumstances pertaining to the disruption to studies are non-medical in nature, appropriate supporting evidence indicating the severity (serious / not serious) and impact of the circumstances must be included with the Disruption to Studies Notification as set out in the Disruption to Studies: Supporting Evidence Schedule. Details of the actual circumstances are not required to be included if the supporting evidence provides the severity impact of the circumstances.

Academic Performance Academic performance is not a consideration for the determination of whether a disruption is classified as Serious and Unavoidable.