131 Topics in Metaphysics

Metaphysics of Time, Space & Motion

“Time is a great teacher; unfortunately it kills all of its pupils.” (Berlioz)

Description. The great 5th century theologian and philosopher, St Augustine, famously wrote, “What is time? If no one asks me, I know; but if I wanted to explain it to one who asks me, I plainly do not know.” A few lines later, after pointing out all the things he is able to say about time without knowing what it is – for instance, that it takes time to say this – he admits that he really is in a “sorry state, for I do not even know what I do not know!” Augustine is not alone in these sentiments. The question of what time is and related puzzles.

In this course we’ll focus on the metaphysics of time, space and motion. In this way we’ll meet a host of problems that have bothered thinkers from Zeno of Elea to Einstein.

Instructor: Dr Craig Callender

Contact details: Rm HSS 8072

ccallender@ucsd.edu

Office hours: Tues 1.30-2.30

Place: WLH 2114, 8-9.20am

Reading: There are two (three) sources of reading material for this course:

1. The majority of the reading material is available electronically on the E-reserves associated with this course. Go to reserves.ucsd.edu and follow the links to the course web site (using either my name or the subject).

2. Introducing Time by Craig Callender, Icon Press, 2001. This is a silly little book; but it should be entertaining and useful background reading.

3. (optional) Time and Space by Barry Dainton, 2001. The four chapters we need will be scanned into library reserves, but it is a nice readable book that you may wish to purchase.

Here are some other books that are useful:

Bas van Fraassen, An Introduction to the Philosophy of Time and Space (NY: Columbia University Press, 1985).

George Gamow, One, Two, Three… Infinity (NY: Dover, 1988).

Rudy Rucker, Geometry, Relativity and the Fourth Dimension (NY: Dover,1977).

Paul Horwich, Asymmetries in Time (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1987).

Huw Price, Time’s Arrow and Archimedes’ Point (NY: Oxford University Press, 1996),

Paul Nahin, Time Machines (NY: Springer-Verlag, 1999, 2nd ed.).

The Philosophy of Time, edited by Robin LePoidevin and Murray MacBeath (NY: Oxford University Press, 1993).

Sklar, L. Space, Time and Spacetime

Newton-Smith, The Structure of Time

Good Internet resources include the entry on Time in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/t/time.htm) and (for the very advanced reader) the entry on time travel and modern physics in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (plato.stanford.edu/entries/time-travel-phys).

Attendance Some of the material for this course will be presented only in the class meetings; that is, some material cannot be found in the readings. Attendance anything short of regular, therefore, will almost certainly damage your grade.

Grading Final exam 30

Midterm 30

Essay 30

Short assignments 10

(More details to be given in class)

Tentative Syllabus. ‘( )’ around a reading means that it is optional.

Wk Reading

TIME

1. Callender, pp 32-43

Wells, H.G., first couple of pages from The Time Machine; http://www.literature.org/authors/wells-herbert-george/the-time-machine/chapter-01.html

2. Gamow, “The World of Four Dimensions”

Taylor, Richard. “Spatial and Temporal Analogies and the Concept of Identity (in Symposium: Space, Time, and Individuals) Richard Taylor The Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 52, No. 22, American Philosophical Association Eastern Division: Symposium Papers to be Presented at the Fifty-Second Annual Meeting, Boston University, December 27-29, 1955. (Oct. 27, 1955), pp. 599-612.

3. McTaggart, “Except from the Nature of Existence”

Callender, 44-51

4. Williams, D.C. “The Myth of Passage”

Maudlin, T. “Remarks on the Passing of Time” Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society volume CII (part 3)., pp. 237-252

5. Dainton, B. Time and Space, McGill-Queen’s Press, 2001, chapter 3, pp27-43.

6. Butterfield, “Seeing the Present” Mind, 93 (1984), 161-76.

7. Is Time Travel Possible?

Callender, 68-117

Lewis, David, “The Paradoxes of Time Travel”

(Goedel, “A Remark About the Relationship Between Relativity Theory and Idealistic Philosophy”; Nahin, technical note; Savitt, “The Replacement of Time”)

SPACE

8. Dainton, “Conceptions of Void”, pp. 132-150

9. “The Leibniz-Clarke Correspondence” in Huggett , Space From Zeno to Einstein , 1999, pp. 143-158.

10. Newton’s Scholium, http://www.anselm.edu/homepage/dbanach/newton.htm

11. Midterm (Tues, Feb 18): all material 1-10

12. Dainton, “Motion in Spacetime” 178-199; Dainton, “Tangible Space” 220-231

MOTION

13. Shoemaker, “Time without Change”

14. Are Some Infinites Bigger than Others?

Reading: Gamow “Big Numbers” from Phil 14 e-reserves website

Zeno’s Paradoxes

Huggett, except from Space From Zeno to Einstein (also from Phil 14 e-reserves)

(Further non-required reading: McLaughlin “Resolving Zeno’s Paradoxes” Arntzenius, F. “Are There Really Instantaneous Velocities?”)

15. Zeno’s Paradoxes, continued

16. Thompson’s Lamp (sections 1, 2 and 4.1 of http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/spacetime-supertasks/)

My notes on Zeno and Infinity

SPACE, TIME AND CONVENTION

17. Newton versus Notwen! Newton-Smith “The Topology of Time IV: The Micro-aspects” in The Structure of Time, Routledge, 1980, 112-126

18. Reichenbach, “The Uniformity of Time” (to be handed out free in class)

FATALISM

19. Fatalism

“Fate” by Taylor; sections from Sobel’s Puzzles for the Will

20. Review for Final