top of page
Sample Teaching Materials
Here are some samples of the teaching materials I made and used for my course, Metaphysics of Ordinary Things, where I taught as a primary instructor in Spring 2026 at the University of Notre Dame.
Visual Aids and Diagrams
 |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|
 |  |  |  |
 |  |  |
PART I: Ordinary Objects at a Time
Four theories of concrete particulars
The Problem of Distinct Colocated Objects
The Problem of the Many
PART II: The Nature of Time
The A-Theories and the B-Theory; McTaggart's Argument aginst the Reality of Time
The Metaphysics of Time
McTaggart's Argument and Evaluating the A-theories and the B-theory
PART III: Ordinary Objects Over Time
The Problem of Qualitative Change
The Puzzle of the Ship of the Theseus
The Puzzle of the Ship of the Theseus (modifed as the Double Stadium Puzzle)
PART IV: Ordinary Objects in Nonactual Situations
Essential and Contingent Properties; General and Individual Essence
Temporal and Metaphysical Possibility, Possible Worlds, Necessary Truths and Necessary Beings
Essential and Accidental Properties, Transworld Identity
PART V: Select Paper Discussion
Lowe (1995), “The Problem of the Many and the Vagueness of Constitution” (PART 2)
Wiggins (1968), "On being in the same place at the same time"
Lowe (1995), "The Problem of the Many and the Vagueness of Constitution" (PART 1)
bottom of page