Metaphysics (Advanced Studies)

Teacher(s)

Depré Olivier; Marion Florian (compensates Depré Olivier); Schmutz Jacob;

Language

French

Main themes

Each year, the course will select two/three particular themes in ancient and contemporary metaphysics, with particular attention to the continuity or the repetition of classical metaphysical issues in the philosophical contemporary  panorama.

Content

Metaphysics as a philosophical discipline has undergone a revival since the last century (overcoming the anti-metaphysical postures of Kant, Heidegger, Carnap, Derrida, Wittgenstein, etc.). The course will be devoted to contemporary metaphysics, although this will not preclude a few digressions and historical parallels: twentieth- and twenty-first-century metaphysicians have not neglected to read Plato, Aristotle, Leibniz, Hume, Hegel and medieval metaphysics (both Latin and Arabic), and very often do not hesitate to refer to one or other philosopher of the past when setting out their positions. The aim of this course is to discuss the fundamental questions of contemporary metaphysics, focusing on the metaphysics of modalities (possible worlds, essences, impossibilia, etc.) and meta-ontology (quantificationism, meinongianism, mereology, grounding).
Detailed programme (but provisional and subject to change) of the advanced seminar of metaphysics at: https://florianmarion.wordpress.com/teaching/

Teaching methods

This course will take the form of an ‘advanced overview’ of contemporary metaphysics, designed to enable students to pursue advanced studies or prepare a master's thesis on highly specialised topics. The metaphysics seminar will take the form of discussions based on the reading of texts, which will be provided to students in advance in French translation (English-speaking students will be able to read the original texts). Reading the texts is essential for the sessions to run smoothly (between 20 and 100 pages to be read for each session): there will be no lectures, and the teacher will be one of several interlocutors - admittedly a more informed and critical interlocutor. Knowledge of classical languages (Greek, Latin, English, German) is a plus, as much of the relevant literature on the subjects studied is in English (the lingua franca of philosophy since the last century). Skills in formal logic are also appreciated (mainly first-order quantified logic and modal logic).
Detailed programme (but provisional and subject to change) of the advanced seminar of metaphysics at: https://florianmarion.wordpress.com/teaching/

Evaluation methods

The course will be validated by a final examination (75%) and a participation mark (25%: failure to read the texts and active participation during the sessions will affect the assessment).

Other information

For the written work, the student is required to systematically indicate all parts having been the subject of use of AI, for example by a footnote, specifying whether the AI was used for the research of information, for writing the text or for its correction. Sources of information must be systematically cited while respecting bibliographic referencing standards. The student remains responsible for the content of his or her production regardless of the sources used.

Online resources

A reader of texts, originally written in English (but provided in French translation), will be provided to students via Moodle.

Bibliography

Bibliographie :

• Textes en langue française (traductions)

Armstrong, D. M. 2010. Les Universaux. Une introduction partisane (trad. S. Dunand, B. Langlet & J.-M. Monnoyer), Ithaque, Paris.
Carnap, R. 1997. Signification et nécessité. Une recherche en sémantique et en logique modale (trad. F. Rivenc & Ph. de Rouilhan), Gallimard, Paris.
Garcia, E. & Nef, F. (eds.). 2007. Textes clés de métaphysique contemporaine. Métaphysique contemporaine : Propriétés, mondes possibles et personnes, Vrin, Paris.
Kripke, S. A. 1982. La logique des noms propres (trad. P. Jacob & F. Recanati), Les Éditions de Minuit, Paris.
Lewis, D. K. 2007. De la pluralité des mondes (trad. M. Caveribère & J.-P. Cometti), Éditions de l’éclat, Paris.
Meinong, A. 1999. Théorie de l’objet et présentation personnelle (trad. J.-F. Courtine & M. de Launay), Vrin, Paris.
Monnoyer, J.-M. (ed.). 2002. Métaphysique et ontologie. Perspectives contemporaines, Numéro spécial de la Revue de Métaphysique et de Morale, puf, Paris.
Monnoyer, J.-M. (ed.). 2004. La structure du monde. Objets, propriétés, états de choses. Renouveau de la métaphysique dans l’école australienne, Vrin, Paris.
Nef, F. & Schmitt, Y. (eds.). 2017. Textes clés d’ontologie. Ontologie : Identité, structure et métaontologie, Vrin, Paris.
Priest, G. 2007. “La logique du paradoxe” (trad. C. Vidal), Philosophie, 94-3, pp. 72-94.
 Priest, G. 2022. Explorer les contradictions. Paraconsistance et dialéthéisme (trad. F. Berland & A. Cohen), Hermann, Paris.
Quine, W. V. O. 2003. Du point de vue logique. Neuf essais logico-philosophiques (trad. S. Laugier), Vrin, Paris.
Routley, R. 2020. “Sur ce qui n’est pas” (trad. B. Langlet), disponible en ligne : https://semaihp.blogspot.com/2020/09/traduction-de-richard-sylvan-routley-on.html
van Inwagen, P. 2019. Des êtres matériels (trad. P.-A. Miot), Ithaque, Paris.
Varzi, A. C. 2010. Ontologie (trad. J.-M. Monnoyer), Ithaque, Paris.

• • Livres en langue étrangère

Armstrong, D. M. 1989. Universals. An Opinionated Introduction, Westview, Boulder.
Berto, F. & Plebani, M. 2015. Ontology and Metaontology. A Contemporary Guide, Bloomsbury, London.
Bliss, R. & Miller, J. T. M. (eds.). 2021. The Routledge Handbook of Metametaphysics, Routledge, London.
Chalmers, D. J., Manley, D. & Wasserman, R. (eds.). 2009. Metametaphysics. New Essays on the Foundation of Ontology, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Kim, J., Sosa, E. & Rosenkrantz, G. S. (eds.). 2009. A Companion to Metaphysics, Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester.
Kripke, S. A. 1980. Naming and Necessity. Second Edition, Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA.
Le Poidevin, R., Simons, P., McGonigal, A. & Cameron, R. P. (eds.). 2009. The Routledge Companion to Metaphysics, Routledge, London.
Lewis, D. K. 1986. On the Plurality of Worlds, Blackwell, Malden.
Loux, M. J. (ed.). 2008. Metaphysics. Contemporary Readings. Second Edition, Routledge, London.
Loux, M. J. & Crisp, Th. M. 2017. Metaphysics. A Contemporary Introduction. Fourth Edition, Routledge, London.
Loux, M. J. & Zimmerman, D. W. (eds.). 2003. The Oxford Handbook of Metaphysics, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Lowe, E. J. 1998. The Possibility of Metaphysics. Substance, Identity, and Time, Oxford Clarendon Press, Oxford.
Lowe, E. J. 2002. A Survey of Metaphysics, Oxford Clarendon Press, Oxford.
Parsons, T. 2000. Indeterminate Identity. Metaphysics and Semantics, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Pasnau, R. 2011. Metaphysical Themes 1274-1671, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Priest, G. 2008. An Introduction to Non-Classical Logic. From If to Is. Second Edition, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Quine, W. V. O. 1953. From a Logical Point of View. 9 Logico-Philosophical Essays, Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA.
Routley/Sylvan, R. 1980. Exploring Meinong’s Jungle and Beyond. An Investigation of Noneism and the Theory of Items, Australian National University, Canberra.
Rush, P. (ed.). 2014. The Metaphysics of Logic, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Tahko, T. 2015. An Introduction to Metametaphysics, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
van Inwagen, P. 2009. Metaphysics. Third Edition, Westview, Boulder.
Varzi, A. C. 2005. Ontologia, Editori Laterza, Roma-Bari.
Zalta, E. N. 1983. Abstract Objects. An Introduction to Axiomatic Metaphysics, Reidel, Dordrecht.

Faculty or entity

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