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Fundamental Ontology

Module description

The course conceives of fundamental ontology as concerned with the basic categories with which we understand the world. This is often expressed as the metaphysical question, “what kinds of stuff is the world is made of”? The course is partly historical and the students’ engagement with ontological questions will be through a range of canonical philosophical texts. We will start with the problems of change and stability in Ancient Greek philosophy, which sets the stage for many of the most important ontological theories (atomism, materialism, idealism).

A significant portion of the course will be dedicated to the debate between monists and pluralists (of varying kinds). Many students will be familiar with Cartesian Dualism (one form of pluralism). The motivations for, and the responses to, this theory will be explored and the notion of “substance” (which is probably the most important in philosophical understandings of the nature of the world) will be critically engaged with. This section of the course will also explore two dominant monisms (materialism and idealism).

The latter part of the course will relate this philosophical tradition of asking questions about the fundamental nature of the world to modern science (in particular, physics), and consider the ontological assumptions that underlie our current scientific understanding. This section of the course will investigate physicalism and the place of philosophy in thinking about fundamental questions of ontology.

It is expected (but not required) that students should have some familiarity with basic questions of metaphysics (e.g. Cartesian Dualism).

Module aims - intentions of the module

What is the world made of? Philosophical attempts to address this question form the core of this module. We aim to explore a range of attempts to explain the nature of the world around us, in terms of its most basic constituents. Notions such as “substance”, “process”, “atoms”, “ideas” have all been central in questions of fundamental ontology and we will aim to develop a critical understanding of their place in our attempts to understand the world. We also aim to explore related questions concerning the number of types of “stuff” (i.e. the debates between pluralists and monists) - and the problem of change and stability. Is change an illusion? What features of the world (if any) are constant? Is the world simply material? We aim to critically engage with philosophical attempts to answer these questions as well as question the place of philosophy in addressing them.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Develop an advanced understanding of the problems of fundamental ontology and a range of philosophical attempts to address these problems
• 2. Analyse and critically engage with a range of ontological theories, developing an understanding of issues at stake in some key metaphysical disputes over the fundamental nature of the world

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 3. Reveal and critique the ontological assumptions underlying of a range of areas of philosophy (e.g. mind, science)
• 4. Understand how fundamental question of ontology relate to wider philosophical understanding of the world (e.g. substance as a fundamental philosophical category) and make use of this insight in your wider philosophy)

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 5. Grasp, and be able to articulate clearly, the problematic nature of many of our basic assumptions about the world
• 6. Explain a wide range of problems and theories of varying degrees of abstractness, and present coherent clear arguments in response to these problems and theories.
• 7. Demonstrate the ability to work independently, within a limited time frame, and without access to external sources, to complete a specified task.

Syllabus plan

The philosophers listed are indicative. The texts chosen may deviate from those mentioned below.

• The problem of change in ancient Greek philosophy – Zeno, Parmenides, Heraclitus, Democritus, Plato
• Aristotle on substance – Aristotle
• Cartesian dualism and responses – Descartes, Spinoza and Leibniz
• Idealism – Berkeley, Kant, Hegel
• Materialism – Democritus, Hobbes, Marx
• Neutral Monism – Spinoza, Mach
• Process and the critique of substance – Whitehead
• Physicalism and the place of philosophy – Sandra Mitchell, Quine, Carnapp

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

Basic reading:
Lloyd, G.E.R. (1970) Early Greek Science: Thales to Aristotle. Norton (New York, London)
Collingwood, R.G. (1945) The Idea of Nature OUP (Oxford)
Woolhouse, R.S. (1993), Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz: The Concept of Substance in Seventeenth Century Metaphysics. Routledge (London, New York)
Rescher, N. (2000), Process Philosophy: A survey of Basic Issues. University of Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh)

Selections from…
Spinoza’ Ethics (1996) Penguin Classics translated by Edwin Curley
Leibniz (1992) Discourse on Metaphysics and Other Essays: Translated and Edited by Garber, D. and Ariew, R. Hackett (Indianapolis)
Whitehead, A.N. (1946) Science and the Modern World, Cambridge University Press (Cambridge)

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

Aristotle’s Metaphysics (Ross translation available at http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/metaphysics.html)

Key words search

Ontology, Substance, Process, Event, Monism, Pluralism, Change, Stability