Metaphysics
METAPHYSICS covers major problems including existence, universals, space and time, individuals, categories, substance, and necessity.
Summary
Past student reviews · Sam Roberts
Grading was considered extremely reasonable, with students doing well if they could show they were putting in effort and cared about the class.
What you’ll be able to do
Describe some of the key philosophical questions related to metaphysics.
Explain key philosophical arguments within metaphysics and critically evaluate these.
Engage in philosophical discussion with an eye for clarity, precision, understanding, and depth.
Source: UW Guide
Grade history
↗All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors
Prerequisites
Course mapJunior standing or 3 Credits in PHILOS
- Junior standing
- 3 Credits in PHILOS
This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.
Prerequisite text tree
- Any of
- Junior standing
- 3 Credits in PHILOS
Professors
Spring 2027No instructors recorded for this selection.
Historical instructors & teaching patterns
SAM ROBERTS is recorded teaching in Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
Calendar & sections
Spring 2027Schedule loads here as you scroll.
| Section | Mode | Enrolled / capacity | Waitlist |
|---|
Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections.
Meeting source records
Student experience
the class
Past student reviews · Sam Roberts
The instructor was described as genuinely caring, super knowledgeable, and encouraging of critical thinking and questions.
Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.68 GPA, 89.2% A/AB (n=37 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.66 GPA, 86.4% A/AB (n=22 letter grades); Spring 2026: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=26 letter grades).
difficulty & workload
Past student reviews · Sam Roberts
Grading was considered extremely reasonable, with students doing well if they could show they were putting in effort and cared about the class.
Past student reviews · Sam Roberts
Students noted that the instructor genuinely cared about them and was reasonable regarding grading expectations.
Topics
- Existence, universals and particulars, space and time, individuals, categories, substance and attribute, necessity.
Skills
- Explain and critically evaluate key philosophical arguments within metaphysics.
- Engage in philosophical discussion with clarity, precision, understanding, and depth.
Grades
Latest available · Spring 2026— not enough history to project Spring 2027.
Grade distribution · % of letter grades
Grades over time
Through Spring 2026
More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data
Not enough comparable courses for Spring 2027 in UW–Madison.
Sources & history
Catalog & offerings
Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.
Catalog observation history
Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.
Selected offering source records
No offering records for the selected term.
Raw records
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Student reviews
Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.
Read original reviews
Grade history
Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.
Explore recorded gradesRecorded 2026-10-14
Model outputs & technical records
LLM outputs across runs
Full model traces
Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.
Model & dataset provenance
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"model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
"model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
"task_version": "17",
"output_id": "9d03412c16b3745b083c70eb23a2f66e40fe23f9798688fadac39de2b920ac29",
"requirements_status": "valid",
"dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
"observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}