PHIL41350

This seminar will discuss a fundamental topic or topics in Metaphysics through the close analysis of texts and arguments, either from the history of philosophy or in more recent philosophy or both. Specific topics to be explored for this coming year will be updated closer to the beginning of the semester. UPDATE: This year this module explores whether metaphysical questions and methods can be meaningfully applied to the social world. We will critically examine the nature and status of social metaphysics, addressing whether it qualifies as genuine metaphysics and how it accounts for socially constructed phenomena. Key topics include the metaphysics of social categories, race, gender, intersectionality, pregnancy, and sexual orientation. Drawing on feminist and anti-racist philosophy, analytic metaphysics, and contemporary social ontology, we will investigate the conceptual challenges and practical implications of theorising about social kinds to illuminate, critique, and deepen our understanding of the social structures that shape lived experience.