Phil 462A
Spring Term, 2011
THE PHILOSOPHY OF SPACE AND TIME
Philosophy 462A - Spring, 2011
Instructor: Steven Savitt
Office:
:
Email:
Web:
Buchanan E360
604-822-2511
savitt@interchange.ubc.ca
http://faculty.arts.ubc.ca/ssavitt/
Course Requirements: Classes will be conducted as a mixture of lecture and discussion. There will
be periodic small specific written assignments (which count for 30% of the final mark), a mid-term
(30%), and a final examination (40%).
We will use the following text, in addition to a packet of readings that will be distributed:
Space from Zeno to Einstein, ed. by Nick Huggett (MIT Press, 1999) [SZE],
In addition to the assignments listed in the following syllabus, there are a number of articles and
books listed as “Further reading.” These are not assigned readings. They are pointers to further literature,
should you find a topic particularly interesting, and they are usually good first sources to check for
ideas for your term paper, if you choose to write one. I shall also add a short list of reference sources
that that may prove useful:
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, edited by Edward Zalta (http://plato.stanford.edu),
The Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ed. by Paul Edwards,
One Hundred Years of Philosophy by John Passmore,
The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, ed. by Robert Audi
Free On-Line Dictionary of Philosophy (http://www.swif.it/foldop/)
Dictionary of Philosophy, ed. Dagobart D. Runes. http://www.ditext.com/runes/index.html,
The Natural Philosophy of Time (2e) by G. J. Whitrow (Oxford University Press, 1980),
Concepts of Space by Max Jammer, (2e) (Harvard University Press, 1969),
Space, Time, and Spacetime by Lawrence Sklar,
Philosophical Problems of Space and Time by Adolf Grünbaum, (Reidel: Second, enlarged edition 1973),
Problems of Space and Time, edited by J. J. C. Smart (Macmillan, 1964) (out of print),
The Concepts of Space and Time edited by Milic Capek (Reidel Publishing Co., 1976) (out of print),
The Philosophy of Time, edited by Richard M. Gale (Anchor Books, Doubleday: 1967) (out of print),
The Arguments of Time, edited by Jeremy Butterfield (Oxford University Press, 1999).
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Phil 462A
Spring Term, 2011
ASSIGNMENTS
4 January
Introductory Lecture
6 Jan.
Plato on Space and Time
Required Reading: “Plato,” Chapter 1 of SZE, Timaeus, 37C-38E.
Further Reading: Plato’s Cosmology by Francis M. Cornford (The Liberal Arts Press, 1957): 97-107.
“The Concept of Space in Antiquity”, Chapter 1 in Max Jammer's Concepts of Space: The History of Space
in Physics ((Harvard University Press, 1969). Time, Creation and the Continuum by Richard Sorabji
(Gerald Duckworth and Co., Ltd., 1983), especially pages 268-76 on interpretations of Plato’s
Timaeus.
11 Jan.
Space and Geometry
Required Reading: “Euclid,” Chapter 2 of SZE.
13 Jan.
Is Motion Possible?
Required Reading: “Zeno”, Chapter 3 of SZE.
18 Jan.
Aristotle on Space
Required Reading: “Aristotle,” Chapter 4 of SZE
20 Jan.
Aristotle on Time and Fate
Required Reading. “Time” from Aristotle's Physics, book IV, chapters 10-14. Aristotle's
De Interpretatione, Chapter 9, Tr. by J. L. Ackrill (Oxford, 1963). In CP.
Further Reading: “Aristotle on the Reality of Time” by Fred Miller in Archiv für Geschichte der
Philosophie 56 (1974): 132-155. “Aristotle on Time” by G. E. L. Owen in Motion and Time, Space and
Matter, edited by Peter Machamer and Robert Turnbull (Ohio State University Press, 1976).
“Aristotle on the Instant of Change” by Norman Kretzmann in Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society,
Supplementary Volume 50 (1976): 91-114. “Time Exists—But Hardly, or Obscurely (Physics IV, 10:
217b29-218a33),” Aristotelian Society Supplementary Volume I (1976): 91-114. “Is Time Real?” Chapter 1
of Time, Creation and the Continuum by Richard Sorabji (Gerald Duckworth & Co., Ltd., 1983)
“Aristotle on ‘Time’ and ‘A Time’” by M. J. White in Apeiron 22 (1989): 207-24.
Ackrill's notes to Chapter 9 of De Int., pp. 132-142 of his translation. Necessity, Cause and Blame by R.
Sorabji, (Cornell University Press, 1980): Chapters 5 - 8 [An extended discussion, plus bibliography].
“The Sea Fight Tomorrow” by D. C. Williams in Structure Method and Meanning: Essays in Honor
of Henry M. Sheffer, edited by Paul Henle, Horace M. Kallen and Susanne K. Langer. (The Liberal
Arts Press, New York; 1951). “Fatalism” by A. J. Ayer in The Concept of a Person (London, 1963): 235268. “Time and Determinism” by A. N. Prior in his Past, Present, and Future (Oxford University Press,
1967). Fitzgerald, Paul, “Is the Future Partly Unreal?” in Review of Metaphysics (March, 1968).
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Fitzgerald, Paul, “The truth about tomorrow's sea fight” in The Journal of Philosophy (1969): 307-329.
Introduction to the Philosophy of Time and Space, Chapter II, sections 1, 2 (pages 11-30) by Bas van
Fraassen. The Moment of Change: A Systematic History in the Philosophy of Space and Time by Niko Strobach
(Kluwer Academic, 1998).
25 Jan.
A Modern Defense of Fatalism
Required Reading: “Fatalism” by Richard Taylor in Philosophical Review 71 (1964). [This
article was reprinted in Smart’s Problems of Space and Time.]
Further Reading: Fate, Logic, and Time by Steven Cahn (Yale University Press, 1967). Review of FLT
by Paul Fitzgerald in Philosophy of Science 38 (March, 1971): 122-6. “Fatalism” by Robert Segal in Pacific
Philosophical Quarterly, Vol. 62, No. 4 (October, 1981): 369-77. “Fatalism and Time” by Mark
Bernstein in Dialogue, 28 (1989): 461-471.
27 Jan.
Che Sarà Sarà?
Required Reading: “Logical Fatalisms”, Chapter 1 of Puzzles for the Will by Jordan
Howard Sobel (University of Toronto Press, 1998), pp. 3-28.
1 February
Time Cannot Exist.
Required Reading: “The Unreality of Time” by J. M. E. McTaggart from The Nature of
Existence (Cambridge University Press, 1927), chapter 33.
Further reading: This argument first appeared as “The Unreality of Time” by J. M. E. McTaggart
in Mind, New Series, No. 68 (October, 1908). There is a comprehensive but dated bibliography on
static versus dynamic time at the end of Gale's collection, The Philosophy of Time. More recent papers
and an updated bibliography may be found in The New Theory of Time. Edited and with introductions
by L. Nathan Oaklander and Quentin Smith (Yale University Press, 1994).
Some other papers. “A (Dis)Solution of McTaggart's Paradox” by David Zeilicovici in Ratio 28 (1986):
175-95. “Temporal Becoming Minus the Moving-Now” by David Zeilicovici in Noûs 23 (1989):
505-24. “Zeilicovici on Temporal Becoming” by Nathan Oaklander in Philosophia 21 (1992): 329-34.
“The Transient Now” by Abner Shimony in his Search for a Naturalistic World View, Volume II:
Natural Science and Metaphysics (Cambridge University Press, 1993). “A Short Defense of
Transience” by George Schlesinger in Philosophical Quarterly 43 (1993): 359-61.
A Modal analysis. “Worlds Enough for Time” by John Bigelow in Noûs 25 (1991): 1-19. Reply by
Nathan Oaklander in Analysis (December, 1994).
3 Feb.
A Defense of Becoming (I)
Required Reading: “Ostensible Temporality” by C. D. Broad from An Examination of
McTaggart's Philosophy, Volume II, part 1, (1938): 264-288.
Further reading: “Broad's Views about Time” by W. C. K. Mundle in The Philosophy of C. D. Broad,
Paul A. Schilpp, ed. (Tudor Pub. Co., 1959), pp. 353-74. Chapter 5, “Multiple Drafts Versus the
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Cartesian Theater,” and Chapter 6, “Time and Experience,” in Daniel C. Dennett's Consciousness
Explained (Little, Brown and Company, 1991)
An older exchange on the “specious present”: Mabbott, J. D. “Our Direct Experience of Time,” Mind 60
(1951): 153-167. Mundle, C. W. K. “How Specious is the 'Specious Present'?” Mind 63 (1954): 26-48.
Plumer, G. “The Myth of the Specious Present,” Mind 94 (1985): 19-35.
New material. “Wooden Iron? Husserlian Phenomenology Meets Cognitive Science” by Timothy van
Gelder in Electronic Journal of Analytic Philosophy (1996). “The Specious Present: A
Neurophenomenology of Time Consciousness” by Francisco Varela in Naturalizing Phenomenology, ed.
by Petitot, J., Francisco Vareal, et al., (Stanford University Press, 1999).
8 Feb.
A Defense of Becoming (II)
Required Reading: “Ostensible Temporality”, pp. 288-308.
10 Feb.
A Defense of Becoming (III)
Required Reading: “Ostensible Temporality”, pp. 309-23.
24 Feb.
Mid-Term Examination
1 March
The “Block Universe” Defended
Required Reading: “The Myth of Passage” by Donald C. Williams. Journal of Philosophy,
48 (1951): 457- 72.
Further Reading: “On the Experience of Time” by Bertrand Russell. The Monist, 24 (1915): 212- 33.
“The Myth of Frozen Passage: the Status of Becoming in the Physical World” by Milic Capek in
Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science, Volume II (Humanities Press, 1965) [plus a response from
Williams, “Physics and Flux: Comments on Professor Capek's Essay.”] Temporal Relations and Temporal
Becoming by L. Nathan Oaklander (University Press of America, 1984) [a defense of Russell's view].
Indexicals. “Elusive Thoughts: the Limited Accessibility of Indexically Expressed Beliefs” by
Peter E. Pruim in Philosophical Studies 83 (1996): 171-90.
3 March
Real Time without Passage
Required Reading. Chapter 7 of Real Time II by D. H. Mellor (Routledge, 1998). In CP.
Further Reading: Asymmetries in Time by Paul Horwich (MIT Press, 1987), Chapter 2. “Critical
Notice of Paul Horwich's Asymmetries in Time” by Steven Savitt in Canadian Journal of Philosophy 21
(1991): 399-417.
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8 March
Spring Term, 2011
McTaggart Not Vindicated?
Required Reading: “A Limited Defense of Passage” by Steven Savitt in American
Philosophical Quarterly, (July, 2001): 261-70.
10 March
Descartes
Required Reading: “Descartes”, Chapter 6 of SZE.
15 March
Absolute Space and Time
Required Reading: “Newton”, Chapter 7 of SZE.
Further reading: “Place, Extension and Duration” by John Locke in Smart's Problems of Space and
Time (pages 99-103). “De Gravitatione” by I. Newton in Unpublished Scientific Papers of Isaac Newton, ed.
by A. R. Hall and M. B. Hall (Cambridge University Press, 1962). “Space and Geometry: The
Newtonian Solution” by Ernest Nagel in The Structure of Science (Harcourt, Brace & World, New York
& Burlingame; 1961): 203-214. World Enough and Space-Time: Absolute versus Relational Theories of Space
and Time by John Earman (The MIT Press, 1989). [A recent, comprehensive examination of the
problem(s).] “By Their Properties, Causes and Effects: Newton's Scholium on Time, Space, Place
and Motion-I. The Text” by Robert Rynasiewicz in Studies in History and Philosophy of Science 26 (1995):
133-154. Also, “Part II. The Context”: 295-321. “Newton's Fluxions and Equably Flowing Time”
by Richard Arthur in Studies in History and Philosophy of Science 26 (1995): 323-?. The Newton Project:
www.newtonproject.ic.ac.uk.
17 March
Leibniz and Relationalism
Required Reading: Leibniz and Clarke. Chapter 8 of SZE.
Further Reading: Hooker, C. A., “The Relational Doctrines of Space and Time” in British Journal for
the Philosophy of Science 22 (1971): 97-130. “Relational Theories of Euclidean Space and Minkowski
Spacetime” by Brent Mundy in Philosophy of Science 50 (1983): 205-26. Arthur, Richard, “Leibniz and
Time” in The Natural Philosophy of Leibniz. K. Okruhlik and J. Brown (Eds.): Dordrecht, D. Reidel
(1985). §II.3 of An Introduction to the Philosophy of Time and Space by Bas van Fraassen (Columbia U.
Press, 1985). Also van Fraassen's “Time in Physical and Narrative Structure” in Chronotypes: in The
Construction of Time, edited by J. Bender and D. E. Wellbery (Stanford University Press, 1991): 19-37.
“How Euclidean Geometry has Misled Metaphysics” by Graham Nerlich in The Journal of Philosophy,
88 (April, 1991): 169-189. The Discovery of Dynamics by Julian Barbour (Oxford University Press,
2001).
22 March
More on Relationalism
Required Reading: Berkeley and Mach. Chapter 9 of SZE
24 March
Kant Shows that Space is Real, then Changes his Mind.
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Required Reading. Kant and Geometry. Chapter 12 of SZE. Kant's Antinomies of
Pure Reason.
Further Reading: “Kant's Mathematical Antinomies” by C. D. Broad in Proceedings of the
Aristotelian Society, n.s. Vol. 55 (1954-55): 1-22. Whitrow, G. T. (1966) “Time and the Universe” in
The Voices of Time, J. T. Fraser (ed.). Huby, P. “Kant or Cantor? That the Universe, if real, must be
Finite in both Space and Time” in Philosophy, 46 (1971): 121-32. “Infinity”, “Limits,” Chapters 7 and
8 of Jonathan Bennett's Kant's Dialectic (Cambridge University Press, 1974). Whitrow, G. T. (1978)
“On the Impossibility of an Infinite Past” in British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 29: 39-45. Craig,
W. L. “The Infinite Past Regained: a Reply to Whitrow” in British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 30
(1979): 161-72. “Can Time Be Finite” by Graham Nerlich in Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 62 (July,
1981): 227-39. Smith, Q. “Infinity and the Past” Philosophy of Science 54 (1987): 63-75. Eells, E.
Discussion of above paper in Philosophy of Science, 55 (1988): 453-5. Smith, Quentin. (1988) “The
Uncaused Beginning of the Universe” in Philosophy of Science 55: 39-57. (Discussed in Gerritt Smith
and Robert Weingard (1990) “Quantum Cosmology and the Beginning of the Universe” in
Philosophy of Science 57: 663- 67). “The Origin and Fate of the Universe,” Chapter 8 of Stephen
Hawking's A Brief History of Time (Bantam Books, 1988). Time, Change, and Freedom: Introduction to
Metaphysics by Quentin Smith and L. Nathan Oaklander. (Routledge, 1995), especially Dialogues I
and II. [This is an introductory text themed around problems of time.]
29 March
Time and Change (Again)
Required Reading. “Time without Change” by Sydney Shoemaker. The Journal of Philosophy,
66 (1969): pp. 363-381.
Further Reading. “Change and Time” by George Schlesinger in The Journal of Philosophy 1970: 294300. Section III (“Can There be Time Without Change?”) of John Earman's “Space-Time, or How
to Solve Philosophical Problems and Dissolve Philosophical Muddles without Really Trying” in The
Journal of Philosophy (1970): 262-265. “Time and Change” in The Structure of Time by Wm. Newton
Smith (Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1980), pages 13-47.
31 March
The Passage of Time (Again)
Required Reading. “How Fast Does Time Pass?” by Ned Markosian. Available on his web
site.
Further Reading. “The River of Time” by J. J. C. Smart in Essays in Conceptual Analysis, Antony Flew
(ed.). New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1966. “Can Time Pass at the Rate of 1 Second per Second?” by
Michael J. Raven. Australasian Journal of Philosophy, 2010. “One Second per Second” by Brad Skow.
(November, 2010. Look online.)
5 April
What Rates are Compared?
Required Reading: “The Measure of Time” by Henri Poincaré in The Value of Science. Dover
Publications: 1958. Also available online.
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7 April
Spring Term, 2011
Conventionalism
Required Reading. Poincaré. Chapter 13 of SZE.
Further Reading: Chapter II in Space, Time and Spacetime by Lawrence Sklar. University of California
Press, 1974.
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