Metaphysics
“After or next to Physics”
Created by Aristotle (because it was written after his
physics!)
What is Metaphysics?
“To reach beyond nature (physis) as we perceive it,
and to discover the "true nature" of things, their
ultimate essence and the reason for being.”
Metaphysics is the study of the basic structures and
categories of what exists, or of reality.
The big question: how to work out a logical account
of everything that we know or believe about
existence
Concerned not only with the nature of things that
exist in space and time, but also with the nature of
things that might not.
Also known as…
 Ontology
a branch of metaphysics
relating to the nature and
relations of being
a particular theory about
the nature of being or the
kinds of existence
Bell Ringer Review…
Define Metaphysics and
Ontology
Agenda and Objectives:
Though notes and
discussion students with
identify metaphysical
theories and its critics
Permanence and Change
(Answer Questions below)

Are you the same person now as you were when you
were born? Why/why not?

Are you the same person now as you were yesterday?
Why/why not?

If you had been to a different school, would you be the
same person?

If you had your limbs amputated and replaced with
synthetic ones, would you still be you?

If you lost your fingerprints would you still be you?

If you changed brains would you still be you?

What are the essential factors that make up you?
Permanence and
Change
questions to think about:


What makes something the
same thing over a period of
time?
What kinds of changes in a
thing would make it a
different thing?
 So, If everything changes, is
anything permanent?
 And, If something is
permanent, how can it be
part of a system that
changes?
Identity over time
• We tend to consider ourselves and other people to
be single identities who exist through time.
• Even though many of our characteristics may change,
we are known personally and legally as the same
person at different points in time.
• Many theories out there to support this.
First theory…Same Body Theory
Justification: The importance
to be able to trace the
existence of one body
through a continuous spatiotemporal path.
continuous path through
space and time will connect
your current body to the body
you will have in forty years’
time.
also point to the factor of
causal continuity, (that what
happens to the earlier body
will have effects on the later
body. )
someone’s personality can
change radically, depending
on their experiences and
circumstances, but they
remain the same person
because they inhabit the
same physical self.
But, how can we say that
the body of a baby is the
same body as that of a
teenager, and then of a 60year old?
Challenges to this
theory
Cosmetic surgery
Organ transplants
Facial Transplants
Brain Transplants???
Multiple Personality theories
“Am I the same person if I carry the kidney, liver or heart that
used to belong to someone else? “
Would you still be “you” with a totally different face?
Isabelle Dinoire
Before
After
2006
Left to right: Isabelle Dinoire before the dog attack, one year after the
transplantation with makeup; and 18 months after the transplant
without makeup.
Second Theory… Same Brain Theory
being the same person
over time is a matter of
having the same brain.
argues that if the brain in
one body were switched
with the brain in another
body (i.e. a double
transplant), the person
or identity would follow
the brain.
Critics- Are “you”
nothing more than the
electrical impulses and
chemical activity of your
brain?
Do you think that there
is some kind of soul, or
essence of “you”, that
could not be captured
and transplanted
physically?
Third Theory Same Mind/Soul Theory
What gives someone
identity over time is their
possession of the same
mind.
Believe that the mind or
soul is a different substance
to any material thing – i.e. it
is not physical like the brain
and the body.
Basis for the theory of
reincarnation.
seems no logical reason
why the death of the body
should harm the person –
i.e. their mind – in any way.
Critics: Neuroscientists are
producing more evidence
all the time that
everything we associate
with the mind has a
physical explanation - i.e.
can be located and
accounted for within the
brain.
Ex. brain damage can
radically alter someone’s
personality, removing
some traits and capacities
and adding others
Phineas Gage (1848)
Phineas Gage Information
Fourth Theory Mental Connections
Theory (memory Theory)
argues that personal
identity over time is a
matter of being able to
trace coherent
connections and
psychological
characteristics over
time (memories and
experiences aka casual
connections)
 Critic: Unable to
remember somethingare we not that person
who had those
experiences of which
we have no
recollection?
 Would you still be you
if you had your
memories erased?
Some questions to think
about…
 Decide if you have direct or
indirect memories of the
following events in your
life.
Your 16th B-day
Name of your best friend
when you were 8.
The name of the lead singer
of your favorite band
Title of the first book you
ever read
Name of your favorite
elementary school teacher
Podcast…
As you listen…
What illness caused Clive to
have amnesia?
What seemed to help can
some of his memory back?
Is Clive the same person
before his amnesia?
Review!
What are the four theories
dealing with identity over
time?
Same body
Same brain
Same mind/soul
Memory theory
Phrenology
 once considered a science,
by which the personality
traits of a person were
determined by "reading"
bumps and fissures in the
skull.
 based on the concept that
the brain is the organ of the
mind.
 believed that the mind has a
set of different mental
faculties, with each
particular faculty
represented in a different
area of the brain.
Question…
What makes a human being the same person over
time, given after only a few months your body
changes most of its cells?
The Problem of the
Ship of Theseus
The Ship of Theseus is a grand, old, wooden battle
ship. After sailing out to war, she returns damaged.
Various small parts of the ship are replaced. This
happens after all her ventures, and eventually large
beams and other major structural features are
replaced. Ultimately, over a period of many years,
every part of the Ship of Theseus has been replaced.
Is it the same ship after all of this?
And now here is a twist. At the port where the ship was
repaired, there is a shed in which an old man has been
storing all the screws, nails, planks, beams and other parts
that were removed from the ship and replaced over many
years. One day, the old man decides that he will put all the
parts back together to make a ship. And this is the result:
we now have a very battered worn ship, just built, docked at
the same port. Interestingly, although it has been newly put
together, it looks much older than the other, and in fact
every one of its parts is older.
So which ship should be called the original ship? Which shall we call the
Ship of Theseus?
Can you make a case for both?
Now, what if one of them was destroyed - would that make any
difference?
With your group try to categorize the
following items… (Body, Mind, or Both)
Dreams
Lust,
Beliefs
Anticipation
Pains
Mind
Thoughts
Feelings
Body
Eyes
Adrenalin Rush
Sight
Ears
Tongue
Heart
Hearing
Taste
Touch
Memories
Heart ache
Illusions
Wishes
Bravery
Desires
Central Nervous System
Heart burn
Anxiety
Anxiety
Anger
Mind/Body Problem
 Philosophy of mind is
branch of philosophy that
studies the concept of the
mind, mental events,
functions, properties and
consciousness.
 Mind-Body Problem
concerns the relationship of
the mind to the body.
 Two major schools of
thought that attempt to
resolve this mind-body
problem is Dualism and
Monism.
Monism
 belief that ultimate reality
is entirely of one substance
 Two types…
 To describe the view that
only matter, or the physical
body, exist. (materialism)
 To describe the view that
only mind, or spirit, exist.
(idealism)
Dualism
Dualism claims that mind
and matter are two
separate categories.
The mind is a nonphysical
substance.
Substance (Cartesian)
Dualism-view that the
universe contains two
fundamental types of
entity: mental and
physical
Led by Descartes who was
the first to identify the mind
with consciousness and selfawareness and to distinguish
this from the brain, which
was the basis of intelligence.
(minds and bodies are
different kinds of entities.)
the mental is private, that
though each of us has access
to our own mind through
introspection, no one can
directly observe anyone
else’s mind
Part II
The Mind/Body Problem
And are we truly free?
Are we always responsible for what we do?
Agenda and Objectives: Through questionnaire and
notes students will identify the differences between
Free Will and Determinism
The Mind/Body Problem
 The mind allows us to
engage in a wide range of
activities.
To have self-awareness
To have dreams and hopes
To reason about the world
To communicate
To feel emotions
To perceive, smell, and
touch the world.
Free will vs.
Determinism
(Am I really Free?)
True or False?
All events are caused.
We are responsible for all our actions.
In some situations people perform actions, but they are not responsible
for what they do.
In each and every situation in my life, I could have acted otherwise than
I in fact acted.
If we were to roll back time to the year 1950, history would unfold in
the same way as it actually did (i.e., JFK would be shot in 1963, Obama
would be elected in 2008, etc.).
God knows what will happen in the future. He knows especially what
will happen in my life later on; that is, he knows when I will die and
what I will have for dinner tomorrow night, etc.
Nobody (not even God) can know what will happen in the future
because the future has not yet happened.
True or False?
If I had experienced a different childhood, then I would
make different decisions right now.
Even if one has a terrible childhood, one still can pull
oneself together and make free and responsible choices
about one’s life.
Some people have no choice when it comes to drinking
alcohol. They are bound to become alcoholics.
We sometimes act on desires that are not our own, but
which are implanted in us by advertising or peer pressure.
Bell Ringer: Responsible or Not?
A very drunk person decided that he can still drive home.
A student who has been told by everybody that he is bad at Math fails another
math exam.
A person who had a back injury is told to take painkillers, then he becomes
addicted.
A 15 yr old girl who has been told all her life by her mother that she is too ‘fat’
becomes anorexic
A 15 yr old boy who grows up in a violent neighborhood drops out of school and
starts selling drugs.
A person who is chronically depressed and with out health insurance, and
therefore without medical treatment for the depression, commits suicide.
A 55 yr old man takes his first Viagra pill. The pill has a very strong effect. He
subsequently decides to spend about $1000 on a sex hotline.
A question to ask…
What is Freedom?
“surface freedom”
Being able to ‘do
what you want’
Being free to act,
and choose, as you
will
BUT: what if ‘what
you will’ is not
under your control?
Another question…
 Why is freedom
important?
We ‘feel’ that we
are free; that we
are the originators
of our own actions
We need to be free
in order to be
responsible for our
actions
Welcome Back
Bell ringer….What
is free will?
Agenda and objectives:
Through
notes/discussion
students will identify
the various theories of
Free Will
Free Will
The freedom of personal choice
Being an agent capable of influencing the world
Source of ones own actions
Actions and choices are “up-to-us”
 The main Philosophical problem is to explain how the
past is connected with the future and what impact
this connection has on our ability to make free
choices.
Against free will-Determinism
(Freedom is an illusion!)
 The assertion that every event in the universe has a
cause, and, since human acts are events, they also
have causes.
 Furthermore, if every event/action has a cause, then
every event/action is predictable.
 Theory that the future is fixed by the past.
Argument against Free Will
(for Determinism)
1 – All events have causes.
2 – Our actions are events.
3 – All caused events are determined by the past.
C1 –Therefore, our actions are determined by the past.
4 – If our actions are determined by the past, then we have no power to act
other than we do indeed act.
5 – If we have no power to act other than how we do act, then we have no
free will.
C2 – Therefore, we have no free will.
Could we be mistaken about
‘feeling free’?
“Let us imagine a man who, while standing on the street, would say
to himself: ‘It is six o’clock in the evening, the working day is over.
Now I can go for a walk, or I can go to the club; I can also climb up
the tower to see the sun set; I can go to the theatre; I can visit this
friend or that one; indeed, I also can run out of the gate, into the
wide world and never return.
“All this is strictly up to me; in this I have complete freedom. But
still, I shall do none of these things now, but with just as free a will I
shall go home to my wife.’ This is exactly as if water spoke to itself: ‘I
can make high waves (yes! in the sea during a storm), I can rush
down hill (yes! in the river bed), I can plunge down foaming and
gushing (yes! in the fountain) I can, finally, boil away and disappear
(yes! at certain temperature); but I am doing none of these things
now, and am voluntarily remaining quiet and clear in the reflecting
pond.”
19th Century, Arthur Schopenhauer
The point of Schopenhauer?
 is that we do not lose our sense of
freedom even if our future is
already determined.
 You have the ability to think about
all your choices, but given your
past, you will choose the one most
logical.
Limitations to Free Will
 Constraints- one is
constrained from
acting as he or she
would normally act
given a choice.
 Obstacles- prevents
an action
Going Further-Hard Determinism
The past completely
determines the future
The belief that free will is an
illusion
People are not morally
responsible for their actions
 The key is Causality, that the
past causes the future.
Causality is the link which
determines how the future will
look like (relationship between
events.)
Objections…
cannot predict how people will choose or act when
they have had a chance to think through their
decision.
Furthermore, it cannot account for our ability to
challenge and change the attitudes and desires that we
have learned.
Determinism assumes that there is only one way to
explain behavior (causes), when in fact there is
another way of explaining behavior (reasons) which is
just as good.
Argument against
Determinism
1 – If hard determinism is true, then we have no free
will.
2 – If we have no free will, then we are not
responsible for our actions.
3 – We are responsible for our actions!
C1 – Therefore, hard determinism is false.
Indeterminism
Some events are not caused by anything
they are pure chance events; they simply happen,
having nothing to do with the person doing it.
Example: Tourette’s syndrome.
Problems…
If choices and actions are not determined
even by one's personality or character, then a
so-called "free" act would be one that occurs
spontaneously and unpredictably thus no one
could justifiably be held responsible for doing
an action which not even he/she could have
predicted would occur!
Soft Determinism
(aka Compatibilism)
Combining Causality and free will
We ourselves are the causes of actions, therefore our
actions are free.
What we want (as expressed by personality or
character) is determined by external events (i.e.
genetics, culture, upbringing), but as long as we are
able to act consistent with our choices, we are free
Welcome Back
Bell ringer….What
are limitations to
free will?
Agenda and objectives:
Through
notes/discussion
students will identify
the various theories of
Free Will
Libertarianism
(Free will exists!)
Doctrine that human beings are
causal agents; they can initiate
(cause) events on their own
account and thus are free to
shape the future.
Most intuitive theory of free will
Argues that determinism applies
to physical events (event
causation), but not to causal
agents (humans).
When humans act, they cause
something to happen (agent
causation).
Problem-external casual
factors play a role in limiting
are freedom.
theory fails to explain “why a
person makes the choice he or
she does - any explanation of
the choice (beyond the
probabilistic one) would seem
to make it determined”
My Lai Massacre
Free Will, Determinism
and Crime
On March 16 1968, C Company under the command of
Lt. William Calley assaulted the Vietnamese Village of
My Lai. 300-500 civilians were massacred. The
ensuing investigation took a year and half. In the end,
charges of war crimes were prepared against 14 US
soldiers; four were actually tried. On March 29, 1971
Lt. Calley was found guilty of murdering 22
Vietnamese citizens. He was sentence to prison for 20
years; his sentence was later reduced to 10 yrs. On
Novemebr 9, 1974. William Calley was released in
parole and is currently living in Georgia.
Match them up!- How would each theory view the My
Lai Massacre and Lt. Calley’s responsibility?
(Soft Determinism, Liberalism, Hard determinism)
1. He must assume total responsibility!
2. He is not responsible for the crime because there
was no other possible outcome.
3. It depends! If outside influences or constraints
would force him to act, then is he not responsible. If
his actions were a result of his own internal will, then
he is to blame.
Answers…
1. Libertarianism
2. Hard determinism
3. Soft determinism
Welcome Back!
Bell Ringer…
Agenda and Objective:
Through notes/discussion
students will understand
the difference between
Monism and Dualism as
well as the definitions of
free will and determinism
Review sheet!
Welcome Back!
What is the definition of Free Will?
What is the definition of Determinism?
Agenda and Objective: Finish notes. Quiz on Tuesday