University of Leeds

Department of Philosophy

Phil 3522: The Structure of Reality

Level 3 Module

Module Leader: Dr. Elizabeth Barnes

Email: e.j.barnes@leeds.ac.uk
Office: BG 32, Baines Wing
Office Hours: Monday 10-12am or by appointment

I. Aims
This is a course in advanced metaphysics that will concentrate on the metaphysics of time. Since it
is an advanced module, it will build on the skills and knowledge gained previously in metaphysical
philosophy courses and presuppose a knowledge of basic issues and concepts in metaphysics.

We will tackle questions such as: (i) How, if at all, is time different from space?; (ii) Do past and
future events exist?; (iii) Am I free to change the future in a way I’m not free to change the past?
Students should leave this course with a deeper appreciation of the work that is being done in the
cutting edge of metaphysics, and with developed skills in metaphysical reasoning.

The aim of this module is to build on the basic grounding provided by previous metaphysical
philosophy modules to develop your skills in reasoning about metaphysics,and your knowledge of
metaphysical issues.

II. Learning Methods

There will be 3 lectures per week for 8 weeks (for a total of 24 lectures). There will be no
tutorials. Lectures will be interactive in style: you are encouraged to ask questions during the
lectures and participate in class discussions.

I will also hold weekly office hours. In those weeks (5, 8, and 11) where there are no lectures, I will
hold additional office hours during scheduled lecture times. Office hours give you an opportunity to
replace the small-group instructional aspect of tutorials, if that’s something that’s important to you.
They also allow you to have things explained to you one-on-one and at your own pace, which is
better for some people.

As this is a 20 credit level 3 module, you should expect to spend a lot of time on it, most of which
will be in self-directed learning done outside of class time. I expect that, as you are quite far into
your course by now, you will already have a fairly good idea of how best to structure your time
management to your own learning needs, but if you’d like some guidance you can consult the
Philosophy Student Handbook.

III. Assessment
Methods: This module will be assessed by 2 x 2,000 word essays – due Monday 1 November and
Monday 13 December. (Please note that the second deadline is the Monday after teaching ends.)
For your essay, you must provide an accurate word count, and you must keep within the word limit.
Essays over 2,200 words (including footnotes and quotations, but excluding bibliography) will not
be accepted for marking.

Criteria: In marking both your essays and your exams, I will primarily be evaluating you on three
criteria:
i) evidence of your comprehension of course materials (i.e., you did the
readings, you came to class, and you seem to have understood both)
ii) your ability to critically evaluate the material we’ve looked at over the
course of the semester (i.e., don’t just report what x said, give me a rigorous
explanation of why x’s argument does/doesn’t work)
iii) your ability to articulate, justify, and defend your own views

Essay questions: Specific essay questions will not be given. Rather, you must formulate your own
essay question. This is to encourage you to think critically about the course material, and to write
on something of genuine interest to you. The only criterion is that the question directly engages
with course material. You can earn up to five bonus marks on your essay for a carefully thought-out
and original question. If you have any questions, I encourage you to come and speak to me in
office hours.
.
IV. Feedback
Feedback on this course is available to you through a variety of methods, some present
continuously and others occurring at specific times. You know your own needs and study habits
best, so it’s up to you to decide which of these will be most helpful to you and how best to take
advantage of them. Please note that feedback is only given on a person-to-person basis; unless
there are extenuating circumstances, I will not send you extensive comments via e-mail.

Office hours: I hold weekly office hours and strongly encourage all students to come and discuss
any questions or problems with me during that time. If you cannot attend my office hours for some
reason, e-mail me to set-up another time to come and see me.

Essay outline/plan: I am happy to go over the plan or outline of your essay with you and give you
comments on it. I will hold additional offices hours (in place of lecture times) during the weeks
your essays are due.

Written comments on your essay: You’ll get written comments on your essay first, explaining your
mark. You probably don’t want to let this be the extent of your feedback – since the essay has
already been graded, there’s a limited extent to which it can help you.

Verbal comments on your essay: There will be an entire week of the module (week 8) in which
lectures are suspended in order for you to get additional feedback on your first essay. This is to help
you better understand the process of writing a philosophy essay, learn from any mistakes you made
on the first essay, and prepare for your second essay. Every student is encouraged to bring their
marked essay with them to my office hours. I will go over it with them in detail and discuss any
questions they may have.

You should also feel welcome to come and see me in the second term, should you have any
questions about your essays or overall mark, or if you’d simply like to discuss your second essay.
V. Texts
There is no required textbook for this course. Required readings will be available on-line, and
linked from the VLE. Lectures will presuppose knowledge of the readings.

If you’re looking for background reading, you may want to try:

Katherine Hawley: How Things Persist. Oxford: OUP. 2002.
Robin LePoidevin: Travels in Four Dimensions. Oxford: OUP. 2003.
Robin LePoidevin and Murray MacBeath (eds): The Philosophy of Time. Oxford: OUP. 1993.
Theodore Sider: Four-Dimensionalism: An Ontology of Persistence and Time. Oxford: OUP. 2001.

VI. Course Outline

Week 1: Introduction and The Passage of Time

Week 2: The (Un)Reality of Time
Week 3: Presentism
Week 4: Objections to Presentism (1)
Week 5: Essay writing (no lectures)
Week 6: Objections to Presentism (2)
Week 7: The Open Future (1)
Week 8: Essay feedback (no lectures)
Week 9: The Open Future (2)
Week 10: Time Travel
Week 11: Essay writing (no lectures)

VII. Tutorials
There are no tutorials for this class. Students are encouraged to attend office hours for individual
instruction.

VIII. Attendance
Department’s official statement:
“Attendance at seminars for this module is compulsory. If for some good reason you are unable to
attend, you must notify the Department Office or the class tutor in advance if possible. If your
absence is a result of ongoing medical or personal circumstances you should notify either your
personal tutor or Dr. Chris Kenny, and you should submit to the Department Office a completed
Mitigating Circumstances Form (available from the Philosophy website http://
www.philosophy.leeds.ac.uk/Currentstudents/index.htm) together with any documentation relating
to your absence (e.g. doctor's notes). Persistent non-attendance or attending without adequate
preparation may result in disciplinary procedures, which may result in your being excluded
from the module or unable to continue on your degree programme.

You can view all of your seminars times and locations on your personal timetable, which can be
accessed via the Student Portal. You should check your timetable regularly throughout the term
in case of any location changes.”
You should note that there are no handouts or publicly available lecture slides for this course. If
you miss a seminar, you need to either get notes from a friend or come and see me to go over the
material that you missed, and you need to do so as promptly as possible.

IX. Inclusive Learning

Everything laid out above is meant to enhance your opportunities to learn, not hinder them. If for
any reason you think the structure of the course will be unfair or pose a particular disadvantage to
you, please contact me immediately and we will discuss options to rectify this.

X. Useful Information
Department of Philosophy Student Handbook

Philosophy Plagiarism Guide

Style Guide for Essays and Dissertations

See: http://www.philosophy.leeds.ac.uk/Currentstudents/index.htm

XI. Details

Essay submission procedure:

Department’s official statement:
“ALL ESSAYS MUST BE TYPED OR WORD-PROCESSED, and accompanied by a fully-
completed Essay Submission Form (available from the Philosophy foyer). On each day that
there is an essay deadline, there will be a desk in the Philosophy foyer which will be staffed from
10am until 4pm. You must hand your essay(s) in at that desk. The tear-off portion of the Essay
Submission Form (which you must also complete) will be signed by a member of staff at the desk,
and returned to you as a receipt. KEEP THESE RECEIPTS CAREFULLY. The only way you can
prove that you submitted the essay, and when you submitted it, is if you can produce your receipt,
and if you can’t prove you handed your essay in, WE WON’T TAKE YOUR WORD FOR IT, and
you won’t get a mark.

If you are submitting your essay early (before the date of the deadline) or late (after 4pm on the date
of the deadline, or at a later date) you must hand it in at the Department Office (G10) and obtain a
signed receipt from a member of staff.

DO NOT put essays in your tutor’s pigeon-hole, email them, fax them, send them through the mail
or hand them in at a tutorial. You must follow the procedure above so that your submission can be
properly recorded. IF YOUR ESSAY GOES ASTRAY BECAUSE YOU HAVE NOT HANDED IT
IN CORRECTLY, YOU WILL USUALLY INCUR PENALTY MARKS.

You need to submit TWO copies of your essay. This module requires electronic submission, so you
should submit one paper copy and one electronic copy (via the VLE). The paper copy must be
individually stapled, with ONE completed Essay Submission Form. Because this module requires
submission via the VLE, only ONE paper copy of your essay will be required. The VLE copy and
paper copy must match exactly, and both essays must be submitted by the deadline in order to
avoid penalties. All essay submissions, both electronic and paper copies, should be
ANONYMOUS, with your student ID and module title in the header.”
Late essays: Unless you have requested and received formal departmental approval for an
extension, a penalty of 5 marks will be deducted for each day - including Bank Holidays and
Weekends - which the essay is submitted after the specified deadline.

Extensions: Extensions may only be approved by the Director of Undergraduate Studies, Dr Chris
Kenny. You must complete a Mitigating Circumstances Form (available from the Philosophy
website http://www.philosophy.leeds.ac.uk/Currentstudents/index.htm) and submit it to Dr Kenny
together with supporting evidence, e.g. a doctor’s note. Refer to the Department of Philosophy
Student Handbook for the full details.

Resit: Students are only given two opportunities to pass level three modules. The first is during
term. The second opportunity is NOT in August. The second and final opportunity that finalists
have to pass 3rd year modules is as an External Student during the following academic year. They
are not in attendance but are given a second and final attempt to pass by completing the same
assessment as those students currently taking the module. i.e. if the first attempt assessment is by
100% 3-hour exam, the third attempt would be by 3-hour exam. If the first attempt was two essays,
the third attempt would be two essays etc, regardless of whether any components had been passed
at the first attempt.

First attempts: Students may be granted ‘first attempt’ status to resit a module, usually on grounds
of medical or personal circumstances. This can only be granted by the Department Progress
Committee, to which students must apply by submitting a Mitigating Circumstances Form available
from the Office or the website (http://www.philosophy.leeds.ac.uk/Currentstudents/index.htm).
Students who have been awarded first attempt status are assessed as if they have made no previous
attempts at the module, and as such the marks are not capped at 40.