Metaphysics and Epistemology

The course equips the students with knowledge of the specific topics in metaphysics and the thinking of some prominent philosophers on these topics.  Such topics are, among others, the definition, possibility and relevance of metaphysics, the existence of the external world, freedom and determinism, space and time, personal identity, individual and society, being and nothingness, substance and accident, essence and existence, matter and form, properties and relations, mind and matter, universals and particulars, appearance and reality, scientific and metaphysical explanations, change and causality.  The course considers an historical review of the foundations of metaphysics and the metaphysical views of some important philosophers.  Attention is given to the critique of metaphysics in modern and postmodern philosophy.  Course objective:

• This course aims at helping students learn to properly investigate and answer the two most fundamental questions of reality, namely ‘what exists and what does it mean to exist?’ and ‘what is the nature of knowledge and how do we come to know’