Philosophy and Time
Schedule

Fall, 2003

  
Date

Topic

Reading

Mon, Sep 1 NO CLASS! LABOR DAY HOLIDAY
Wed, Sep 3 Introduction to the Course no reading
Mon, Sep 8 Time Travel (introduction to the issues) Heinlein, "By His Bootstraps"
Lewis, "The Paradoxes of Time Travel," LePoidevin 134-148
Wed, Sep 10 Time in the History of Philosophy 1: Aristotle Aristotle    Westphal 60-72 
(useful: van Fraassen's discussion of Aristotle in An Introduction to the Philosophy of Time and Space)
Mon, Sep 15 Time in the History of Philosophy 2: Augustine Augustine   Westphal 6-28
Presenter: David
Wed, Sep 17 Time in the History of Philosophy 3: Newton and Leibniz Newton and Leibniz    Westphal 60-71
(useful: Sklar, van Fraassen)
Mon, Sep 22 Philosophy of Science 1 Rucker, chapters 9, 6, 7 (read 9 first)
[note change: was 6-8];
Sklar, Philosophy of Physics, chapter 2
Presenter: Jess
Wed, Sep 24 Philosophy of Science 2 Sklar, chapter 2, continued
Mon, Sep 29 Metaphysics: McTaggart 1 McTaggart, "The Unreality of Time," Westphal 94-111 (Confusingly, LePoidevin 23-34 is given the same title, but is a later discussion of the same ideas; you may want to read it as well.)
Wed, Oct 1 Metaphysics: McTaggart 2

Dummett, "A Defense of McTaggart's Proof," Westphal 112-118;
Horwich, "The Moving Now," Westphal 119-130
Mon, Oct 6 Philosophy of Language 1 Kaplan, "Demonstratives," sections I - VII, X, X(i)
Presenter: Lori
Wed, Oct 8 Philosophy of Language 2 Quine, "Time," in Westphal 148-52
Mellor, "The Unreality of Tense," LePoidevin 47-59
Presenter: Jonathan
Mon, Oct 13 Logic Stanford Encyclopedia entry
Presenter: Jess
Wed, Oct 15 Anisotropy

Sklar, "Up and Down, Left and Right, Past and Future," LePoidevin 99-116;
Horwich, "Anisotropy" (chapter 3 of Asymmetries in Time)
Presenter: John
Mon, Oct 20

Passage

Pro Passage:
Ned Markosian, "How Fast Does Time Pass?";
William Lane Craig, "Wishing It Were Now Some Other Time"
Anti Passage (recommended, not required):
D. C. Williams, "The Myth of Passage," in Westphal
Presenter: David

Wed, Oct 22

 Phenomenology 1 Heidegger, "The Concept of Time"
Presenter: Mike

Mon, Oct 27

Phenomenology 2 Husserl, in Westphal pp. 32-36
Dostal, "Time and Phenomenology in Husserl and Heidegger" in Cambridge Companion to Heidegger
Presenter: Mike
Wed, Oct 29 instructor out of town
MIDTERM EXAM		  
Mon, Nov 3 Fatalism 1 Taylor, "Fatalism"
Presenter: Jeremy
Wed, Nov 5 Fatalism 2 Mark Bernstein, Fatalism, chapters 1-2
Presenter: Lori
Mon, Nov 10 Open Future; Free Will Boethius, from Consolation of Philosophy;
J. R. Lucas, "The Open Future," in Lockwood, ed., The Nature of Time
Presenter: John
Wed, Nov 12 Free Will 2 Vihvelin, "Time Travel: The Rules of the Road"
Presenter: Jeremy
Mon, Nov 17 Ethics 1 Pitcher, "The Misfortunes of the Dead"; Parfit, Reasons and Persons, Part II (pp. 117 - 194)
Presenter: Jonathan
Wed, Nov 19

Ethics 2

 Parfit, continued
Mon, Nov 24 Time in Literature 1 Proust and Mann in Westphal; Eliot, "Four Quartets"
Wed, Nov 26  Time in Literature 2 any suggestions? (So much literature, so little time . . . )
Mon, Dec 1 final presentations 1 Jonathan, Jess
Wed, Dec 3 final presentations 2 Jeremy, John
Mon, Dec 8 final presentations 3
 David, Lori
Thurs, Dec 11, 
6:30 PM
FINAL EXAM

FINAL PAPERS DUE
 
Last update: November 10, 2003. 
Curtis Brown  |  Seminar on Time   |  Philosophy Department  |   Trinity University
cbrown@trinity.edu