PHA0206 The Passage of Time

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2018
Extent and Intensity
0/0/0. 5 credit(s). Recommended Type of Completion: k (colloquium). Other types of completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Prof. Eric Olson (lecturer), doc. Mgr. Radim Bělohrad, Ph.D. (deputy)
Guaranteed by
prof. PhDr. Josef Krob, CSc.
Department of Philosophy – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Ing. Mgr. Zdeňka Jastrzembská, Ph.D.
Supplier department: Department of Philosophy – Faculty of Arts
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 16 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Abstract (in Czech)
Time, unlike space, appears to involve a sort of movement or passage. Your next birthday is in the future, but every day it draws nearer. Eventually it will be present, and after a day it will forever after lapse further into the past. Likewise, time appears to be divided into past, present, and future. Present events seem special and importantly different from those that take place in the past or the future. The shifting of this special status from earlier to later events is time’s passage. But many philosophers believe that both the passage of time and the distinction between past, present, and future is an illusion. This course will consider the main arguments in the debate between ‘dynamic’ and ‘static’ views of time.
Key topics (in Czech)
  • 1. The debate over time’s passage
  • 2. The appearance of time’s passage
  • 3. Fate
  • 4. Thank goodness that’s over!
  • 5. McTaggart’s argument for the unreality of time
  • 6. How do we know what time is now?
Study resources and literature
  • The Routledge companion to metaphysics. Edited by Robin Le Poidevin - Peter M. Simons - Andrew McGonigal - Ross P. Camer. First published in paperback. London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2012, xxii, 609. ISBN 9780415396318. info
  • The philosophy of time. Edited by Robin Le Poidevin - Murray MacBeath. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993, vi, 230 s. ISBN 0-19-823998-X. info
Approaches, practices, and methods used in teaching (in Czech)
lectures, class discussion, reading
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course is taught only once.
The course is taught in blocks.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
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