PH373-15 The Philosophy of Time

Department: Philosophy
Level: Undergraduate Level 3
Module leader: Christoph Hoerl
Credit value: 15
Module duration: 10 weeks
Assessment: 20% coursework, 80% exam
Study location: University of Warwick main campus, Coventry

Introductory description

PH373-15 Philosophy of Time

Module aims

The nature of time has been a preoccupation of Western philosophy since its beginnings in Ancient Greece. Time is a fundamental, ever-present, feature of our lives, and yet something that can come to look deeply puzzling as soon as we start thinking about it. This module aims to introduce students to some of these puzzles, and to philosophers’ attempts to resolve them. In doing so, it also aims to foster an understanding of what makes the questions these puzzles raise distinctly philosophical ones.

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

I. The Metaphysics of Time
The B-theory of Time
Presentism
The Moving Spotlight
Time and Relativity
Time Travel
II. Temporal Experience
The Snapshot Theory of Temporal Experience
Retentionalism
Extensionalism
Passage and Illusion
Human Time and Physical Time

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

At the end of the module, students will have a good understanding of a number of ways in which time has been and continues to be the subject of philosophical debates, and will be able to critically evaluate different claims made about time in the history of philosophy, and in different areas of philosophy such as metaphysics, the philosophy of science, and the philosophy of mind.

Indicative reading list

Bardon, Adrian (ed.) (2013), The future of the philosophy of time. Routledge.
Callender, Craig (Ed.) (2011), Oxford handbook of philosophy of time. Oxford University Press. Especially chapters by Huw Price (The Flow of Time), David Brink (Prospects for Temporal Neutrality), Jenann Ismael (Temporal Experience).
Dainton, Barry (2010), Time and space, second edn. Routledge.
Deng, Natalja (2013). Our experience of passage on the B-theory. Erkenntnis.
Dummett, Michael (1978). A defence of McTaggart’s proof of the unreality of time. In: Truth and other enigmas. Duckworth
Dyke, Heather & Bardon, Adrian (Eds.) (2013), A companion to the philosophy of time. Wiley Blackwell.
Lewis, David (1976). The Paradoxes of Time Travel. American Philosophical Quarterly 13 (2):145-152.
Markosian, Ned (2014). Time. In: E. N. Zalta (ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2014 Edition), URL = http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2014/entries/time/
Paul, L. A. (2010). Temporal experience. Journal of Philosophy.
Olson, Eric (2009), The Passage of Time. In: R. LePoidevin et al. (Eds), The Routledge Companion to Metaphysics.
Phillips, Ian (ed.) (2017), The Routledge handbook of philosophy of temporal experience. Routledge

Interdisciplinary

As part of the module, we will consider connections between the philosophy of time and the psychology of time. We will also consider some aspects of the physics of time.

Subject specific skills

TBC

Transferable skills

TBC

Study time

Type	Required
Lectures	9 sessions of 2 hours (12%)
Seminars	8 sessions of 1 hour (5%)
Private study	124 hours (83%)
Total	150 hours

Private study description

No private study requirements defined for this module.

Costs

No further costs have been identified for this module.

You do not need to pass all assessment components to pass the module.

Students can register for this module without taking any assessment.

Assessment group D6

	Weighting	Eligible for self-certification
Assessment component
Take Home Exam	20%	No
1000 word take-home exam
Reassessment component is the same
Assessment component
Online Examination	80%	No
2 hour examination Online examination: No Answerbook required
Reassessment component is the same

Feedback on assessment

Students will receive individualised written feedback on both the take-home exam and the main exam.

Past exam papers for PH373

Courses

This module is Optional for:

UPHA-V700 Undergraduate Philosophy
- Year 2 of V700 Philosophy
- Year 3 of V700 Philosophy
Year 4 of UPHA-V701 Undergraduate Philosophy (wiith Intercalated year)
Year 4 of UPHA-V702 Undergraduate Philosophy (with Work Placement)
Year 2 of UPHA-V7ML Undergraduate Philosophy, Politics and Economics

This module is Core option list A for:

Year 3 of UMAA-GV17 Undergraduate Mathematics and Philosophy
Year 3 of UMAA-GV19 Undergraduate Mathematics and Philosophy with Specialism in Logic and Foundations

This module is Core option list B for:

Year 2 of UMAA-GV17 Undergraduate Mathematics and Philosophy
Year 2 of UMAA-GV19 Undergraduate Mathematics and Philosophy with Specialism in Logic and Foundations

This module is Core option list C for:

Year 4 of UMAA-GV19 Undergraduate Mathematics and Philosophy with Specialism in Logic and Foundations

This module is Option list A for:

UPHA-VL78 BA in Philosophy with Psychology
- Year 2 of VL78 Philosophy with Psychology
- Year 3 of VL78 Philosophy with Psychology

This module is Option list B for:

Year 2 of UHIA-V1V5 Undergraduate History and Philosophy
UMAA-G105 Undergraduate Master of Mathematics (with Intercalated Year)
- Year 2 of G105 Mathematics (MMath) with Intercalated Year
- Year 3 of G105 Mathematics (MMath) with Intercalated Year
- Year 5 of G105 Mathematics (MMath) with Intercalated Year
UMAA-G100 Undergraduate Mathematics (BSc)
- Year 2 of G100 Mathematics
- Year 3 of G100 Mathematics
UMAA-G103 Undergraduate Mathematics (MMath)
- Year 2 of G100 Mathematics
- Year 2 of G103 Mathematics (MMath)
- Year 3 of G100 Mathematics
- Year 3 of G103 Mathematics (MMath)
- Year 4 of G103 Mathematics (MMath)
UMAA-G106 Undergraduate Mathematics (MMath) with Study in Europe
- Year 2 of G106 Mathematics (MMath) with Study in Europe
- Year 3 of G106 Mathematics (MMath) with Study in Europe
- Year 4 of G106 Mathematics (MMath) with Study in Europe
Year 2 of UMAA-G1NC Undergraduate Mathematics and Business Studies
Year 2 of UMAA-GL11 Undergraduate Mathematics and Economics
Year 2 of UECA-GL12 Undergraduate Mathematics and Economics (with Intercalated Year)
UMAA-G101 Undergraduate Mathematics with Intercalated Year
- Year 2 of G101 Mathematics with Intercalated Year
- Year 4 of G101 Mathematics with Intercalated Year
UPHA-VQ72 Undergraduate Philosophy and Literature
- Year 2 of VQ72 Philosophy and Literature
- Year 3 of VQ72 Philosophy and Literature
Year 4 of UPHA-VQ73 Undergraduate Philosophy and Literature with Intercalated Year

This module is Option list E for:

Year 2 of UPHA-V7MW Undergraduate Politics, Philosophy and Law