Reality, Being and Existence: An Introduction to Metaphysics (Online)

Metaphysics is the most general investigation into the nature of reality. It has been at the centre of philosophy since the beginning of the western tradition in ancient Greece, and many of its concerns are the same as those of Plato and Aristotle. This course will introduce you to some of the traditional concerns.

After a brief introduction to the nature of metaphysics, the course will focus on five central and traditional metaphysical questions: do we have free will? What is the nature of the causal relation - cause and effect - that binds our world together? What is the nature of time? How does something (for example, a person) change and remain the same thing? Does reality contain universal features as well as particular entities?