Analytic Metaphysics

The Course

This course consists in an overview of central themes in analytic metaphysics viewed from a broadly realist perspective. We begin with a historical overview of analytic metaphysics and a discussion of general categories such as universals, particulars, processes, dispositions and functions. We then extend these general categories to specific areas such as social reality, documents and document acts, disease, money, and war. The course will be of interest not only to philosophers but also to those interested in ontological applications.

Department of Philosophy: Special Topics PHI 598. Registration number: 24232

Time: Tuesdays, 1-3:50pm, Spring 2016

Room: 141 Park Hall, UB North Campus

Instructor: Barry Smith

Office hours: Tuesdays, 12:15-1pm and by appointment via email to [1]

Recommended background reading

R. Arp, B. Smith, A. D. Spear, Building Ontologies with Basic Formal Ontology

John R. Searle, Making the Social World

E. J. Lowe, The Four Category Ontology

Roman Ingarden, The Literary Work of Art. An Investigation on the Borderlines of Ontology, Logic, and Theory of Language

- February 2: Analytic Metaphysics: Introduction and Historical Background

• Aristotle
• Frege, Russell, Wittgenstein
• Husserl and the Polish School
• Contemporary Analytic Metaphysics
• Universals and Particulars

Pieces of a Theory

Slides

- February 9: Roles, Dispositions and Social Ontology

• Building Ontologies with Basic Formal Ontology, Chapter 5
• Massively Planned Social Agency
• Document Acts and the Ontology of Social Reality
• John Searle: From Speech Acts to Social Reality

• Slides

Realizables 16

Social Entities and Culture 25

Sanction 33

Knowledge-down-a-wire 37

Mutual Dependence 45

Generic Dependence 51

What is a language? 62

Thomas Reid / Miniature Civil Society / Gesture and Sanctions 68

Adolf Reinach: Inventor of Speech Act Theory 78

J. L. Austin 119

J. R. Searle 123

Towards Obligation 150

• Video

- February 16: Roles, Dispositions and Social Ontology: Part 2

• Slides
• Video
• Massively Planned Social Agency

- February 23: Analytic Metaphysics: Introduction, Part 2

• Three-Dimensionsalism and Four-Dimensionalism
• Universals and Instances
• Fiat Objects
• "Sites and Boundaries

Maureen Donnelly, "Endurantist and Perdurantist Accounts of Persistence"

• Slides

- March 1: Material Entities, Process Profiles and Granular Partitions

• Classifying Processes: An Essay in Applied Ontology
• On Classifying Material Entities in Basic Formal Ontology

• The Primacy of the Intentional

- March 8: Truth, Reference and Aboutness

• Truthmakers
• About Aboutness

- March 22: Document Acts

• Document Acts

- March 29: Money

Money and Fictions

- April 19: Terrorism, Wars and Warfighting

Defining Terrorism

Grading and Related Policies and Services

All students will be required to take an active part in class discussions throughout the semester and to prepare a paper on some relevant topic. The paper should be submitted in a draft version on or before March 29, and in final form on or before May 3. A powerpoint version will be presented in class in one or other of the two closing sessions .

Your grade will be determined in three equal portions deriving from:

1. class participation (2.5% per class attended)

2. paper (3000 words; deadline for draft: March 29; deadline for final version: May 3)

3. class presentation (graded according to quality of powerpoint slides, quality of delivery, and quality of response to questions)

For policy regarding incompletes see here

For academic integrity policy see here

For accessibility services see here