What is the nature of space and time? This seminar will address this metaphysical question and survey the classic debates in the philosophy of space and time. As these debates are inextricably linked with developments in fundamental physics, we will try to understand whether, and if so, to what extent, these developments impose constraints on how metaphysical theories of space and time might look like.

The electronic reserves for this course can be found here (This page is still incomplete; if we get pressed for time, I will make the articles otherwise available). The articles from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP) should be directly downloaded from their website. If viewed online, the URLs on the syllabus are direct links to the SEP articles. Michel Janssen`s survey article on special relativity can be found on his web page, or can be downloaded directly here.

• Syllabus
• Lecture Notes on Special Relativity (26 April 2007)

Back to top