Course Description for Philosophy 417

 

Ned Markosian
Western Washington University
Spring 2007

 

 

Most people believe in physical objects, also known as things. And most people believe in matter, also known as stuff. But what is the relation between an object and the matter that it’s made of? Is the object identical to the matter? Or is the matter, perhaps because it has different persistence conditions (and can survive certain changes that the object cannot), distinct from the object? A related question concerns the relation between what seem to be two objects, namely, a statue and the lump of clay that it is made of. Are they identical, or is the lump, again perhaps because it has different persistence conditions (and can survive certain changes that the statue cannot) distinct from the statue?

 

These are among the questions we will address in this seminar.

 

 

Readings

 

·        Chappell, Vere. 1970.  “Stuff and Things,” Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 71: pp. 61-76.

 

·        Cartwright, Helen Morris.  1972.  “Chappell on Stuff and Things,” Nous 6: pp. 369-377.

 

·        Chappell, Vere. 1973.  “Matter,” Journal of Philosophy 70: pp. 679-696.

 

·        Cooper, John M. 1973.  “Chappell and Aristotle on Matter,” The Journal of Philosophy 70: pp. 696-698.

 

·        Dancy, Russell M.  1973.  “Matter: Aristotle and Chappell,” The Journal of Philosophy 70: pp. 698-699.

 

·        Grandy, Richard E.  1975.  “Stuff and Things,” Synthese 31: pp. 479-485.

 

·        Laycock, Henry.  1989.  “Matter and Objecthood Disentangled,” Dialogue 28: pp. 17-21.

 

·        Chappell, Vere.  1990.  “Locke on the Ontology of Matter, Living Things and Persons,” Philosophical Studies 60: pp. 19-32.

 

·        Burke, Michael B. 1992.  “Copper Statues and Pieces of Copper: A Challenge to the Standard Account,” Analysis 52: pp. 12-17.

 

·        Johnston, Mark.  1992.  “Constitution Is Not Identity,” Mind 101: pp. 89-105.

 

·        Noonan, Harold.  1993.  “Constitution is Identity,” Mind 102: pp. 133-146.

 

·        Zimmerman, Dean. W. 1997.  “Coincident Objects: Could A ‘Stuff Ontology’ Help?” Analysis 57: pp. 19-27.

 

·        Baker, Lynne Rudder.  1997.  “Why Constitution is not Identity,” Journal of Philosophy 94: pp. 599-621.

 

·        Thomson, Judith Jarvis.  1998.  “The Statue and the Clay,” Nous 32: pp. 149-173.

 

·        Sidelle, Alan.  1998.  “A Sweater Unraveled: Following One Thread of Thought for Avoiding Coincident Entities,” Nous 32: pp. 423-448.

 

·        Elder, Crawford L.  2003.  “Destruction, Alteration, Simples and World Stuff,” The Philosophical Quarterly 53: pp. 24-38.

 

Course Requirements

 

·        Thirteen 2-page summary papers – collectively worth 20% of final grade

·        Two class presentations – each worth 20% of final grade

·        Two 6-page term papers – each worth 20% of final grade

 

Summary Papers

 

Each summary paper must be typed (double-spaced, with normal margins) and no more than two pages long. About half a page should be devoted to summarizing the big picture of the relevant reading assignment, about half a page should be devoted to summarizing the main point or argument, and about half a page should be devoted to stating the best possible objection to the main point or argument.

 

Summary papers will be due at the beginning of class, and no late papers will be accepted.

 

Each summary paper will get a grade of 0, 1, or 2 points. Each student’s three lowest summary paper grades will be dropped, and the remaining summary paper grades will be added, so that the highest possible summary paper total will be 20 points.

 

Class Presentations

 

Each student will be responsible for two ten-minute class presentations. Each class presentation should focus on a significant objection to the main point or argument contained in the reading. (Since everyone else in the class will have read the assignment carefully, there will be no need for any presentation to contain a summary of that reading assignment.) Class presentations should be augmented by handouts that are approximately one page long.

 

Class presentation assignments will be made during our first class meeting (on April 9th).

 

Term Papers

 

Term papers must be typed (double-spaced, with normal margins) and should be approximately six pages long. Each student is required to write one term paper for each of his or her class presentations, and these term papers are expected to expand and improve on the contents of the class presentations. Each term paper will be due at the beginning of class one week after the presentation on which it is based. (Late term papers will be penalized at the rate of one full letter grade per business day.)

 

 

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