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Overview: Size and Parts

Feb 10, Feb 12

Tuesday Topic

This week we'll look at different options for how objects can extend, and how objects can break down. We'll discuss spanning, multilocation, and partining, and gunkiness, chunkiness, and points. Finally, we'll look at how this all applies to options for persistence across time. This lecture will be an overview that will provide a foundation for our remaining discussions, as in following weeks we'll dive into details in many of these debates.

This Week's Readings

Required Readings:


Make a start at this:

The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Mereology" sections 1 - 3.2 (inclusive)


If it's challenging, it's okay: we'll cover it in lecture, and you can follow up by reading the complete collection of selections listed above by next week.

Thursday Workshop

Workshop Topic:  Handouts


To Bring:

  • 1 page draft handout, which we'll workshop in class

  • a list of features of handouts you like, and different options for different kinds of handouts


Something to look at, but you don't have to make a handout in line with this. Just another resource:



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