PHIL 2040 - Metaphysics: Identity, Time and Freedom
North Terrace Campus - Semester 2 - 2025
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General Course Information
Course Details
Course Code PHIL 2040 Course Metaphysics: Identity, Time and Freedom Coordinating Unit Philosophy Term Semester 2 Level Undergraduate Location/s North Terrace Campus Units 3 Contact Up to 3 hours per week Available for Study Abroad and Exchange Y Prerequisites At least 6 units of Level I undergraduate study Incompatible PHIL 2027 Assumed Knowledge At least 3 units from among PHIL 1110 or PHIL 1101 or PHIL 1111OL or PHIL 1102 Assessment Research Essay, Final exam, Short Writing Exercise, Discussion tasks Course Staff
Course Coordinator: Associate Professor Antony Eagle
Course Timetable
The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from .
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Learning Outcomes
Course Learning Outcomes
- Demonstrate understanding of some central philosophical debates in contemporary metaphysics.
- Analyse contemporary and historical argumentative texts and extract the relevant views and arguments from them.
- Accurately present philosophical arguments in written form and oral contexts (individual and/or group).
- Evaluate philosophical and scientific arguments about time, identity and freedom, providing appropriate grounds for those evaluations.
- Identify and use relevant evidence to support or criticise metaphysical hypotheses.
- Present a sustained argumentative case in written form, addressing potential counterarguments and objections.
最新糖心Vlog Graduate Attributes
This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attribute(s) specified below:
最新糖心Vlog Graduate Attribute Course Learning Outcome(s) Attribute 1: Deep discipline knowledge and intellectual breadth
Graduates have comprehensive knowledge and understanding of their subject area, the ability to engage with different traditions of thought, and the ability to apply their knowledge in practice including in multi-disciplinary or multi-professional contexts.
1, 2, 4 Attribute 2: Creative and critical thinking, and problem solving
Graduates are effective problems-solvers, able to apply critical, creative and evidence-based thinking to conceive innovative responses to future challenges.
1, 4, 5 Attribute 3: Teamwork and communication skills
Graduates convey ideas and information effectively to a range of audiences for a variety of purposes and contribute in a positive and collaborative manner to achieving common goals.
3, 6 Attribute 5: Intercultural and ethical competency
Graduates are responsible and effective global citizens whose personal values and practices are consistent with their roles as responsible members of society.
2 Attribute 8: Self-awareness and emotional intelligence
Graduates are self-aware and reflective; they are flexible and resilient and have the capacity to accept and give constructive feedback; they act with integrity and take responsibility for their actions.
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Learning Resources
Required Resources
The majority of readings for this course will be available electronically through MyUni. However, the unit on free will focusses on this text:
- van Inwagen, Peter (1983) An Essay on Free Will. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Students will find it important to have unimpeded access to a copy of this book. .
Online Learning
Lecture notes and recordings will be available via MyUni. There will also be a monitored discussion board hosted on MyUni. -
Learning & Teaching Activities
Learning & Teaching Modes
This course is taught by a mixture of online lectures and whole-class workshops. There are about 2 hours worth of lecture recordings per week, broken up typically into 3–5 topic-focussed videos.
The workshop is devoted to discussion of weekly lecture material. Students engage with an online discussion board prior to the workshop, which gives everyone a chance to engage with the material substantively before the class takes place. Participation is assessed based on the pre-class discussion board; attendance at the workshop itself is optional.Workload
The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.
Workload Total Hours per semester Structured Learning 1 x 2 hour workshop per week, except week 1 22 Self-directed learning Lecture materials and required reading (6hrs per week) 72 Discussion forum preparation 11 Exam preparation (1.25 hours per week) 15 Written assignment preparation (2.5 hours per week) 30 TOTAL 150 Learning Activities Summary
WEEK LECTURE TOPIC 1 Method in Metaphysics and the Paradoxes of Time Travel Part I: Time 2 The A-Theory, the B-Theory, and Temporal Ontology 3 Passage and the Direction of Time 4 Temporal Experience and the Attitudes Part II: Identity 5 Personal identity 6 Change and Persistence 7 Parts, Places, and Persistence 8 Relativity and Persistence Part III: Freedom 9 The Problems of Free Will and Fatalism 10 Incompatibilism and the Consequence Argument 11 Compatibilism and Moral Responsibility 12 Do we have free will? -
Assessment
The 最新糖心Vlog's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:
- Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
- Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
- Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
- Assessment must maintain academic standards.
Assessment Summary
ASSESSMENT TASK TASK TYPE WEIGHTING COURSE LEARNING OUTCOME(S) Research Essay Summative/Formative 40% 1,2,3,4,5,6 Final exam Summative 30% 1,2,3,4,5,6 Short Writing Exercise Summative/Formative 20% 1,2,3,4 Discussion tasks Formative/Summative 10% 1,2,3,4,5 Assessment Detail
Assessment Description Weighting Research Essay Essay of ~2000 words covering a topic from the latter part of the course. Essays will be expected to go beyond prescribed course material and will require further research. 40% Final exam Invigilated in-person exam (open book/open note) consisting of short essay questions and short answer questions, with student involvement in question generation 30% Short Writing Exerise Written assessment of ~1000 words on material from the early part of the course, prioritising text and lecture engagement 20% Discussion tasks Students provide a short answer to a prior suggested question through an online discussion board, as the basis for in-class discussion. Evaluated over the course of the semester. Weekly evaluation on a complete/incomplete basis. 10% This course is assessed by means of written work of various sorts, which is essential to build the fundamental philosophical skills of close analysis, extended complex argument, attention to detail, and the articulation of thought. Achievement of the learning outcomes in this course requires that you build skills in the analysis of written texts, you develop knowledge of various philosophical positions, and you understand how to construct a persuasive written argument. Some of these things can be done, to an extent, by a variety of generative AI tools, the use of which therefore tends to obscure the degree to which students have mastered the basic skills of understanding and summarising course materials and generating and expressing their own thoughts on the topics.
Accordingly, in this course the use of generative AI tools is strongly discouraged, and the use of any AI tools to generate ideas or give feedback on content or argument of assessment pieces is prohibited, as is any use of AI to produce work for submission. You may use elementary features of such tools to undertake spelling and grammar checking and to make suggestions about style and concision. This course has an invigilated exam to provide a secure check on student’s attainment and to validate performance on other assessment tasks.
Submission
This course is assessed by written essays and an invigilated end of semester exam. The exam is to be undertaken at the time directed under standard 最新糖心Vlog conditions.
All essays and weekly discussion prompt answers must be submitted electronically through MyUni. This semester, I will be using Cadmus to help scaffold best practice in assessment design and to encourage and bolster academic integrity. I will be interested to hear your feedback about how effective it is. I will update you during the first few weeks of semester on how to use the platform. It is ultimately your responsibility to submit assessments correctly.
Further details about assesment and marking will be available through the course MyUni page.
Course Grading
Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:
M10 (Coursework Mark Scheme) Grade Mark Description FNS Fail No Submission F 1-49 Fail P 50-64 Pass C 65-74 Credit D 75-84 Distinction HD 85-100 High Distinction CN Continuing NFE No Formal Examination RP Result Pending Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.
Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.
Final results for this course will be made available through .
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Student Feedback
The 最新糖心Vlog places a high priority on approaches to learning and teaching that enhance the student experience. Feedback is sought from students in a variety of ways including on-going engagement with staff, the use of online discussion boards and the use of Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT) surveys as well as GOS surveys and Program reviews.
SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the 最新糖心Vlog to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.
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Student Support
- Academic Integrity for Students
- Academic Support with Maths
- Academic Support with writing and study skills
- Careers Services
- Library Services for Students
- LinkedIn Learning
- Student Life Counselling Support - Personal counselling for issues affecting study
- Students with a Disability - Alternative academic arrangements
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Policies & Guidelines
This section contains links to relevant assessment-related policies and guidelines - all university policies.
- Academic Credit Arrangements Policy
- Academic Integrity Policy
- Academic Progress by Coursework Students Policy
- Assessment for Coursework Programs Policy
- Copyright Compliance Policy
- Coursework Academic Programs Policy
- Intellectual Property Policy
- IT Acceptable Use and Security Policy
- Modified Arrangements for Coursework Assessment Policy
- Reasonable Adjustments to Learning, Teaching & Assessment for Students with a Disability Policy
- Student Experience of Learning and Teaching Policy
- Student Grievance Resolution Process
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Fraud Awareness
Students are reminded that in order to maintain the academic integrity of all programs and courses, the university has a zero-tolerance approach to students offering money or significant value goods or services to any staff member who is involved in their teaching or assessment. Students offering lecturers or tutors or professional staff anything more than a small token of appreciation is totally unacceptable, in any circumstances. Staff members are obliged to report all such incidents to their supervisor/manager, who will refer them for action under the university's student鈥檚 disciplinary procedures.
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