Philosophy 741 - Seminar in Metaphysics

This seminar will focus on the nature of ordinary things -- objects that we encounter in daily life. Such mundane objects include: organisms, inanimate natural objects, artifacts, artworks, people and other medium-sized objects. How are such objects related to, say, particles in physics? Are some or all ordinary things identical to aggregates of particles to which we apply our concepts, or do any of them have ontological significance? There are numerous metaphysical issues that we may consider: for example, the nature of vagueness, the nature of persistence, the usefulness of mereology.