Course Descriptions

Note: We accidentally deleted all of the pages for YALP 2019, and are now in the process of slowly reconstructing those pages. Sorry about that!

The Philosophy of Time

Ned Markosian

Two main ways of thinking about time have emerged in the metaphysics literature in recent years. According to The Static Theory of Time (which is the majority view), time is just like space – it is one of four similar dimensions that make up a single manifold that is appropriately called spacetime. On this view, there is nothing special about the present moment, and time's apparent passage is merely a subjective feature of the way humans happen to perceive the world. The other view is The Dynamic Theory of Time, according to which time is very different from space, the present is special, and the passage of time is a genuine and objective feature of the world. In this course we will examine the various issues involved in this dispute, in an attempt to get clear on what exactly is at stake in the debate, and then we will consider some of the most interesting arguments that can be brought to bear on these issues.