Metaphysics
Code: 100303 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year | Semester |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2500246 Philosophy | OB | 3 | 2 |
Contact
- Name:
- Mercè Rius Santamaria
- Email:
- merce.rius@uab.cat
Use of Languages
- Principal working language:
- catalan (cat)
- Some groups entirely in English:
- No
- Some groups entirely in Catalan:
- Yes
- Some groups entirely in Spanish:
- No
Prerequisites
No prerequisite.
Objectives and Contextualisation
It would be:
1) Acquire a certain conceptual ease regarding the most remarkable milestones of Metaphysics throughout the history of philosophy.
2) Learn to compare and distinguish, as much as possible, idealism, spiritualism and materialism.
3) Address the classic problem of the foundation (the doctrine of being) and that of transcendence (the limits of representation).
4) Reflect on the opposition between ontology and metaphysics in the digital age.
Competences
- Act within one's own area of knowledge, evaluating sex/gender-based inequalities.
- Analysing and summarising the main arguments of fundamental texts of philosophy in its various disciplines.
- Placing the most representative philosophical ideas and arguments of a period in their historical background and relating the most important authors of each period of any philosophical discipline.
- Recognising and interpreting topics and problems of philosophy in its various disciplines.
- Students must be capable of applying their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and they should have building arguments and problem resolution skills within their area of study.
- Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
- Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
- Students must develop the necessary learning skills to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
- Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
- Thinking in a critical and independent manner on the basis of the specific topics, debates and problems of philosophy, both historically and conceptually.
Learning Outcomes
- Accurately using the specific lexicon of the history of philosophy.
- Applying philosophical rigour in a written text following the international quality standards.
- Autonomously searching, selecting and processing information both from structured sources (databases, bibliographies, specialized magazines) and from across the network.
- Communicate by making non-sexist, non-discriminatory use of language.
- Communicating in the studied language in oral and written form, properly using vocabulary and grammar.
- Demonstrating a personal stance over a problem or controversy of philosophical nature, or a work of philosophical research.
- Discriminating the features that define the writer's place in the context of a problem and reorganising them in a consistent diagram.
- Distinguishing and outlining the fundamental content of a philosophical text.
- Distinguishing the topics of philosophical relevance in current debates.
- Establishing relationships between science, philosophy, art, religion, politics, etc.
- Explaining the specific notions of the History of Philosophy.
- Expressing both orally and in written form, the issues and basic problems of the philosophical tradition.
- Identifying the main ideas of a related text and drawing a diagram.
- Indicating and discussing the main characteristics of the distinctive thought of a period and contextualizing them.
- Organizing their own time and work resources: designing plans with priorities of objectives, calendars and action commitments.
- Producing an individual work that specifies the work plan and timing of activities.
- Recognising, with a critical eye, philosophical referents of the past and present and assessing its importance.
- Relating elements and factors involved in the development of scientific processes.
- Relating several ideas of the current philosophical debates.
- Relating the various orders of the philosophical ideas of different authors and historical moments.
- Solving problems autonomously.
- Using suitable terminology when drawing up an academic text.
Content
1. Introduction.
2. Historical milestones of metaphysical knowledge.
a) Aristotle: the doctrine of being as a scientific foundation.
b) Descartes: cogito ergo sum or the substance-subject.
c) Leibniz: the decisive reason for the contingency.
3. After Kantian Critique to Metaphysics.
a) Positivism and prima philosophia.
b) Ontologies of the 20th. century
Methodology
During the face-to-face sessions, the teacher will present the subjects of the program with special emphasis on the main concepts, which will be framed in the appropriate argumentation.
The work corresponding to the second test must be supervised by the teacher. Otherwise, it will not be admitted.
Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Activities
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Master class | 35 | 1.4 | 7, 10, 11, 22, 14, 17, 19, 20, 1 |
| Text reading orientation | 10 | 0.4 | 8, 13, 15, 20 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Tutorials | 20 | 0.8 | 3, 8, 5, 15, 1 |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Reading recommended bibliography | 50 | 2 | 7, 8, 13, 20 |
| Study and preparation of works | 27.5 | 1.1 | 3, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 5, 22, 15, 20, 1 |
Assessment
First test:
It will consist of a written test during the class time slot. The subject that can be evaluated will be that of the program topics exposed in class until one week before the exam.
Second test:
A brief work on the subject of the subject: 10,000 characters minimum and 12,000 maximum, spaces included. Typeface: Times New Roman 12, line spacing: 1.5.
The student may choose one of the following options:
1) I. Kant, Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics.
2) T.W. Adorno, Philosophical Terminology.
3) J.-P. Sartre, "Cartesian Freedom" and Being and Nothingness (third part, first chapter, I).
4) S. Weil, Formative Writings [not in full]
5) R. Rorty, "Philosophy", third part of Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature.
6) M. Rius, Matèria. El grau zero de la filosofia [Matter. Philosophy Degree Zero].
Third test:
It will consist of a written exam during the class time slot. The assessable subject will be the rest of the program.
The final grade is calculated as follows:
The first test and the third test, each one of them, 35% of the final grade.
The second test, 30% of the final grade.
The subject will be considered passed if the average of the three tests is not less than 5. And always while the average will be calculated only between grades not less than 4.5.
Test dates
1) The first test will take place on April 25, 20223.
2) The second test will be delivered in a flexible period, between April 11 and May 11, 2023.
3) The third test, on May 30, 2023.
If any eventuality forces a change of dates, the teacher will inform the class as far in advance as possible, and through the course delegate.
In the event that the tests cannot be done in person, their format will be adapted (maintaining their weighting) to the possibilities offered by the UAB’s virtual tools. Homework, activities and class participation will be done through forums, wikis and/or exercise discussions through Teams, etc. The teacher will ensure that the student can access it or offer alternative means, which are within his/her reach.
Conditions for final reassessment:
a)
The subject will be considered non-evaluable if the student does not appear (under the proper conditions formulated in this Guide; see the Organization Rules) to any of the ordinary tests without communicating their reasons to the teacher either before the evaluation date or during the following 10 calendar days, and this in the event that an unexpected incident prevents them from appearing. Logically, the alleged causes must be force majeure and documented. However, the always exceptional possibility of recovering an omitted test will not be extended tothree ordinary examination session.
b)
There will be no global revaluation, but only of each of the suspended ordinary tests. However, to access the final revaluation, you must have an evaluation that has already been approved (or, at least, rated 4.5). In a two-hour exam, no more than two ordinary tests can be re-evaluated. Thus, in the data set by Academic Management, it will only be possible to revalue: the first and the second, the first and the third, orthe second and the third. Now, in order to re-evaluate the second test, will have had to be presented the work in which it consists in the first convocatory.
c)
The test qualified with a 4.5 should be re-evaluated only if the average with the other two is less than 5.
Evidence review:
The revision date of each test will be indicated in due course through Moodle.
Organizational rules:
If the student (1) does not personally deliver the test prepared at home at the established place, date and time, (2) if he / she does not appear for one of the tests carried out in the classroom or (3) arrives late to the same, that is, when the ballots with the questions are already distributed and the consequent instructions have been given, in any of the three cases, the convocatory is lost. You can only recover it as part of the final revaluation if you meet the conditions indicated in the previous section (Conditions for final recovery). An exception will be made, allowing him / her to carry out the test, if the student provides due justification for his / her delay in the immediate 5 calendar days; otherwise, the test will be destroyed without grading it. Regarding the delivery of the test carried out at home, if any circumstance prevents him from complying with the rule, the student must notify the teacher well in advance.
Regarding the possibility of sending work by email, it will only be effective if the teacher so decides at the time. Otherwise, they will be dismissed. It will also be those that are deposited at the Department's box office, unless consent has been obtained in this regard.
Warning: If plagiarism is committed in any of the aforementioned tests (that is, if fragments of a publicationare reproduced, in paper or digital format, without citing the source: author's name and publication reference), the note obtained will be automatically a zero, and will result in the possible loss of the right to revaluation in accordance with current academic regulations.
Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First test: exam | 35% of the final grade | 2.5 | 0.1 | 2, 9, 8, 10, 11, 12, 5, 22, 14, 17, 19, 20, 18, 21, 1 |
| Second test: brief research work | 30% of the final grade | 2.5 | 0.1 | 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 8, 16, 10, 12, 5, 22, 13, 15, 17, 19, 20, 18, 21, 1 |
| Third test: exam | 35% of final grade | 2.5 | 0.1 | 2, 9, 8, 10, 11, 12, 5, 22, 14, 17, 19, 20, 18, 21, 1 |
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(b)
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Adorno, Theodor W., Terminología filosófica II, Taurus, Madrid.
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(a)
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Tomàs d’Aquino, Comentarios a la Metafísica de Aristóteles, en Cuadernos de Anuario Filosófico. Serie Universitaria, Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona.
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Zeller, Eduard (1897), Aristotle and the Earlier Peripatetics [traducció de l’original alemany, 1856-1868], Scholar Select.
Jaeger, Werner (1923), Aristóteles, F.C.E., México-Madrid.
Moreau, Joseph (1962), Aristóteles y su escuela, Eudeba, BuenosAires.
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Heidegger, M. (1922, ed. 1989), Interpretaciones fenomenológicas sobre Aristóteles[Informe Natorp]. Edició de Jesús Adrián, Trotta.
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(b)
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Software
No specific software is needed.