PHIL335L - Metaphysics: The Nature of Reality

3 Credit(s)

Liberal Arts
This course will examine some of the deepest questions that human beings can possibly ask. What is the nature of reality or existence? Is it entirely material or does the immaterial also exist? Do abstract entities exist apart from the mind? Does anything exist apart from the mind or is the world a mental construct? Does Everything happen according to fixed laws of nature or do some things happen simply by chance? What is our self? Is it our body, our soul, or both? If it is both our body and our soul, how are two such radically different things connected? Are we free to choose our actions from a set of alternatives or is Everything we do determined by our genes, our upbringing, our environment, or by some combination of these? Students will critically examine possible answers to questions such as these in the history of philosophy, as well as attempt to answer them for themselves.

Offered When: Every three years.
Prerequisite(s): PHIL 101L