Seminar on
Philosophy and Time

Survey

Fall, 2003

Just a few questions to start things off.

1. How long is the present?
2. Is the past real?
3. Is the present real?
4. Is the future real?
4.5 If you traveled to the future, would there be anything there?
5. Suppose you are considering whether to buy a novel tomorrow. Is it true today that either you will buy it or you will not buy it?
6. (The previous example, continued) Is the following statement true? Either it is true today that you will buy the book tomorrow, or it is true today that you will not buy the book tomorrow.
7. If there is a God, does God know now whether you will buy the book tomorrow?
8. Does time move? Do we move through time? Are these different questions?
9. If you answered "yes" to one of the first two questions in 7, how fast does it (or do we) move?
10. You know that one of the following two situations is true, but you don't know which. Either you suffered an unexpected, serious pain a week ago and then were given a drug to make you forget it, or you will suffer an unexpected, serious pain a week from now and then will be given a drug to make you forget it. The amount of pain, worry, etc. added to your life is exactly the same either way. Do you prefer one situation over the other? If so, do you think this is rational?
11. You know that you will have a painful operation either next week or twenty years from now, but you do not know which. Which would you prefer? Do you think this is rational?


Last update: September 2, 2003. 
Curtis Brown  |  Philosophy and Time   |  Philosophy Department  |   Trinity University
cbrown@trinity.edu