Analytical Metaphysics
- Department of Philosophy: PHI 531. Registration number [1]
Time: Tuesdays, 1-3:50pm, Spring 2016
Room: 141 Park Hall, UB North Campus
Instructor: Barry Smith
Office hours: By appointment via email at [2]
Reading:
- Roman Ingarden, The Literary Work of Art. An Investigation on the Borderlines of Ontology, Logic, and Theory of Language
- E. J. Lowe, The Four Category Ontology
- R. Arp, B. Smith, A. D. Spear, Building Ontologies with Basic Formal Ontology
Background
- February 2: Analytical Metaphysics: Introduction and Historical Background
- Aristotle
- Frege, Russell, Wittgenstein
- Husserl and the Polish School
- Contemporary Analytical Metaphysics
- Universals and Particulars
- February 9: Things and Processes; Parts and Wholes
- Eddy Zemach
- 3-Dimensionalism and 4-Dimensionalism
- E. J. Lowe
- Basic Formal Ontology
- Pieces of a Theory
February 16 Qualities, Roles and Dispositions and Functions
February 23: Use of Ontologies in Tracking Systems: Truth, Reference and Aboutness
March 1: Mind and Language
March 8: Actions, Intentions and Plans
March 15: Spring Recess
March 22: Document Acts
March 29: Money
April 5: Populations, Species, and Other Biological Categories
April 12: Disease
April 19: Wars and Warfighting
April 26: Presentations of Student Projects 1
May 3: Presentations of Student Projects 2
Guidance for Presentations and Reports
Grading and Related Policies and Services
All students will be required to take an active part in class discussions throughout the semester. In addition they will be required to design and complete an ontology project, including written description, and brief presentation of the project in class. Students enrolled in the practical segment will be required to create a Protégé file to accompany their ontology project, and also to complete quizzes designed to gauge developing competence in the use of the Protégé Ontology Editor and SPARQL query language.
For 3 credit hour students, your grade will be determined in five equal portions deriving from:
- 1. class participation (1.5% per class attended),
- 2. results of two quizzes relating to the lab portion of the course
- 3. written description of ontology project (3000 words; deadline December 2),
- 4. Protégé ontology file (deadline November 25),
- 5. class presentation.
For 2 credit hour students, your grade is determined as follows:
- 1. class participation (1.5% per class attended),
- 2. written description of ontology project (4000 words; deadline December 2) (50%),
- 3. class presentation (30%).
For policy regarding incompletes see here
For academic integrity policy see here
For accessibility services see here
