Philosophical Logic: The Philosophy of Time Sven Rosenkrantz

Language

English

Objetives

This course will address both metaphysical questions about the nature of time and questions about the logic and semantics of the tenses. ‘Does it make sense to speak of the passage of time?’, ‘Is the future open, or is it already determined and, to this extent, inevitable?’, ‘Is it possible for time to end?’, ‘Is the past as real as the present?’, ‘Or does only the present exist?’: these and other questions will be discussed against the backdrop of selected texts by authors such as Aristotle, McTaggart, Smart, Reichenbach, Prior, Dummett, Mellor and others.

Structure and content

1. General introduction to the philosophy of time

2. The philosophy of tensed language

3. Tensed thoughts

4. The metaphysics of time

5. Actualism and presentism.

6. Time and science.

Methodology

The first two classes will consist of introductory presentations by the teacher. The next few classes will adopt the form of a reading and discussion seminar, consisting of brief presentations by students of the readings assigned for the class, followed by a discussion led by the teacher but with intense student participation. The last two classes will consist again of presentations by the teacher.

Evaluation

Students taking the course for credit must write an essay between 5,000 and 8,000 words long, on some topic related to the seminar. The final grade will be based on the quality of the essay (65%) and on the quality of the students presentations and in-class participation (35%).

Bibliography

Fine, Kit: Modality and Tense, Oxford 2006: Oxford University Press

A. Jokic and Q. Smith (eds.), Time, Tense, and Reference, 25-45, Cambridge, Mass. 2003: MIT Press

Robin LePoidevin and Murray MacBeath (eds.), The Philosophy of Time, Oxford 1993: Oxford University Press.