Dear All,
Please note: the Society now has a new webpage, here: http://www.philtimesociety.com/
This webpage will no-longer be maintained.
best wishes,
Jonathan
Dear All,
Please note: the Society now has a new webpage, here: http://www.philtimesociety.com/
This webpage will no-longer be maintained.
best wishes,
Jonathan
Posted by Jonathan Tallant on August 06, 2013 at 04:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Hello Everyone (with apologies for cross posting),
A few bits and pieces about the Society.
First, Alan White is standing down as Secretary of the PTS. On behalf of the Society, I'd like to extend my thanks to Alan for the hard work that he's put in during his time as Secretary. Without him, I'm pretty sure we'd have had rather fewer meetings of the PTS recently!
We're looking for a new secretary and I'm delighted to say that Kristie Miller (http://kristiemiller.net/KristieMiller2/Home_Page.html) has agreed to stand for the post. Of course, we will need to hold an election to formally ratify any appointment, so if there are any other interested parties, please could they let me know by this coming Friday (April 12th).
Second, I'd like to reiterate the call for abstracts: The Philosophy of Time Society requests submissions of high quality abstracts (200 words) on any topic relating to time for its group meeting at the Eastern APA December 27-30, 2013, in Baltimore, MD. Abstracts should be sent by email attachment to me by May 1st.
Third, the latest issue of Chronos should be out soon. My apologies for the delay.
Finally, we're looking to migrate the PTS webpages to something a little more user-friendly over the next couple of months. Do keep a look-out for the update.
Best wishes,
Jonathan
[email protected]
Posted by Jonathan Tallant on April 09, 2013 at 03:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Posted by Jackhjames on March 27, 2013 at 06:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
I would like to announce the publication of 'A Companion to the Philosophy of Time'
(Wiley-Blackwell, 2013)--edited by Adrian Bardon and Heather Dyke.
It includes 32 specially-commissioned essays from leading scholars on
all aspects of (i) the history of the philosophy of time, (ii) the
science and metaphysics of time, and (iii) the experience of time.
http://www.amazon.com/Companion-Philosophy-Time-Blackwell-Companions/dp/0470658819
(Publisher's blurb and table of contents below)Posted by Jonathan Tallant on February 19, 2013 at 03:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Dear Members,
The Philosophy of Time Society requests submissions of high quality abstracts (200 words) on any topic relating to time for its group meeting at the Eastern APA December 27-30, 2013, in Baltimore, MD. Abstracts should be sent by email attachment to me by May 1.
Email: [email protected]
Please also advise whether you would be willing to serve as chair or commentator. Volunteers willing to chair or comment but not planning to submit are very welcome.
Sincerely,
Jonathan Tallant
President of the Philosophy of Time Society
Posted by Jonathan Tallant on January 30, 2013 at 05:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Dear Members,
Further to the email that I sent out a little while back: just to remind people that The Philosophy of Time Society requests submissions of high quality abstracts (150 words) on any topic relating to time for its group meeting at the Pacific APA, March 27-31st, 2013, in San Francisco. Abstracts should be sent by email attachment to me by August 12th.
Please also advise whether you would be willing to serve as chair or commentator. Volunteers willing to chair or comment but not planning to submit are also welcome.
Email: [email protected]
Sincerely,
Jonathan Tallant
President of the Philosophy of Time Society
Posted by Jonathan Tallant on August 09, 2012 at 03:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Dear Members,
The Philosophy of Time Society requests submissions of high quality abstracts (150 words) on any topic relating to time for its group meeting at the Pacific APA, March 27-31st, 2013, in San Francisco. Abstracts should be sent by email attachment to me by August 12th.
Please also advise whether you would be willing to serve as chair or commentator. Volunteers willing to chair or comment but not planning to submit are also welcome.
Email: [email protected]
Sincerely,
Jonathan Tallant
President of the Philosophy of Time Society
Posted by Jonathan Tallant on July 12, 2012 at 11:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
I'm confused.
Suppose there is a rocketship orbiting a planet in the Andromeda Galaxy. It's orbit is such that I am successively in the ship's future, present, past, present, future, ... due to relativistic effects. An astronaut in the rocketship concludes I inhabit a blockworld. But this conclusion seems independent of one's present experience and therefore irrelevant to the presentist.
has this been solved in the literature?
Thanks
Posted by Pmerriam1 on June 25, 2012 at 04:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
I'm delighted to announce that Ulrich Meyer (Colgate) has been elected as the new Vice President of the Philosophy of Time Society. Many thanks to all those members who took part in the election a little while back and congratulations to Professor Meyer.
Posted by Jonathan Tallant on June 25, 2012 at 10:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Hey All,
This is my first post, I don't wish you to be gentle. But I'm nervous nontheless.
I've come up with a little argument against the tensed theory of time and I was hoping I could get some comments and critizisms of it. I call it `The Ordinal Objection' but it might be more informatively called `The inaccessible times objection'. If anyone has seen similar arguments in the literature I'd appreciate a nudge in that direction. I've attached it rather than copying and pasting. It's brief, but I thank you for your time all the same.
Love,
Tristan Download Ordinal Objection
Posted by Tristan Johnson on June 15, 2012 at 12:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)
Hello Everyone. I've been asked to post the following as it may be of interest to some of our readers. You can find the same text, here: http://philocosmology.rutgers.edu/what-we-do/postdoctoral-fellowships
Best wishses,
Jonathan
The School of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers University is pleased to announce the availability pending funding (to be determined soon) of three postdoctoral fellowships in philosophy of cosmology. Fellows will be appointed in the Department of Philosophy in association with the multi-university Project in Philosophy of Cosmology. We hope to appoint one fellow in each of the following areas of concentration: 1) philosophy of physics, 2) cosmology, 3) philosophy of religion, metaphysics or philosophical theology. For more information about the kinds of research that could be supported under these fellowships, please see the summaries of current project members’ research interests and aims here:
http://philocosmology.rutgers.edu/who-we-are .
Requirements for the fellowship include i) PhD in the last 5 years in a relevant area, ii) acquaintance with recent developments in cosmology and issues in philosophy of cosmology, iii) a research project related to the research of the Philosophy of Cosmology Project, iv) strong background in one of the three fields mentioned above.
The primary responsibility of a Fellow will be to conduct research on his/her project. Fellows will also be responsible for teaching one course per year in their area of expertise. Fellows will be expected to participate in all of our conferences, seminars, and a summer school in the summer of 2013; they will work with faculty mentors in the organization, planning, editing and the other aspects of our project.
Fellows will be appointed for one year with the possibility of renewal for a second year. Appointments will be effective September 1, 2012 or January 1, 2013. Fellows will receive a stipend of $50,000 annually as well as an annual research allocation of $2,000; they will also receive Rutgers University health benefits.
Requests for more informantion or applications, consisting of a CV, a research proposal, a writing sample, and the names of 3 references should be sent by email to Professor Barry Loewer at [email protected]. Review of applications will commence on July 8 and continue until the positions are filled.
Rutgers University is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. The institution values diversity in its faculty, staff, and students and especially encourages applications from women and underrepresented minorities.
Posted by Jonathan Tallant on June 13, 2012 at 04:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Dear Members,
The Philosophy of Time Society requests submissions of high quality abstracts (150 words) on any topic relating to time for its group meeting at the Central APA, February 20-23, 2013, in New Orleans. Abstracts should be sent by email attachment to me by July 1st.
Please also advise whether you would be willing to serve as chair or commentator. Volunteers willing to chair or comment but not planning to submit are also welcome.
On a further matter: we're currently looking for a new Vice President of the Society. We already have one expression of interest. Any other interested parties are advised to contact me before June 8th. We will hold an email election at that point, if more than one candidate decides to run for the post. I'm happy to describe the details of the role more fully, via email.
Email: [email protected]
Sincerely,
Jonathan Tallant
President of the Philosophy of Time Society
Posted by Jonathan Tallant on May 30, 2012 at 10:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Hello Everyone,
Just to let you all know that the 2010/11 issue of Chronos has been sent out via email. If you've not received one, or if you require a hard-copy, please drop me an email: [email protected]
Posted by Jonathan Tallant on May 28, 2012 at 04:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
What's the best thing in the philosophy of time since the A-series/B-series distinction?
Posted by Pmerriam1 on March 13, 2012 at 06:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)
Apologies, everyone. We've seen a very large up-surge in spam on this blog over the last few days, so I've had to up the security settings a little bit. You will now--I think--be asked to answer a simple verification question in order to post.
Posted by Jonathan Tallant on February 13, 2012 at 04:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Dear Members,
The Philosophy of Time Society requests submissions of high quality abstracts (150 words) on any topic relating to time for its group meeting at the Eastern APA, December 27-30, 2012, in Atlanta. Abstracts should be sent by email attachment to me by May 1. Email: [email protected]
Please also advise whether you would be willing to serve as chair or commentator. Volunteers willing to chair or comment but not planning to submit are also welcome.
Sincerely,
Jonathan Tallant
President of the Philosophy of Time Society
Posted by Jonathan Tallant on January 13, 2012 at 10:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Just released:
The Future of the Philosophy of Time (Routledge, 2012), edited by Adrian Bardon
Posted by Jonathan Tallant on November 03, 2011 at 04:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
In 1916 Einstein published an argument to show that the relativity of simultaneity [RS] could be deduced without knowing more about special relativity [STR] than the constancy and invariance of the velocity of light. (Relativity: The Special and the General Theory. 1st English tr. 1920, pp. 27-29.) I believe the argument can be improved.
The idea is that a moving train is hit by lightning at both ends. An observer on an embankment is at the mid-point of the train at the instant of the simultaneous lightning strikes. Hence this observer sees the flashes of lightning simultaneously. A passenger in the train is sitting at its mid-point. Because the train is moving forward, the passenger sees the front strike before the rear strike, but this is in the frame of the embankment. Einstein claimed that for the same reason, the passenger in the train would also see the front flash first, thus illustrating the relativity of simultaneity. The logic of this seems unclear. Without a transformation formula, we have no way of knowing what the time coordinates in the moving frame are.
One can argue like this: Either the times of seeing the two strikes are the same in the passenger’s frame or they are not. If the strikes appear simultaneous, this is RS for the events of seeing the flashes. If the strikes appear non-simultaneous, the strikes happen at different times in the passenger’s frame, because the flashes travel equal distances to the observer and at the same speed. This is RS for the events of the two strikes.
Posted by Anthony Stone on September 29, 2011 at 12:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
String theorist Lubos Motl makes claims about time in "Ten new things modern physics has learned about time". (1) is "Time is just another, imaginary dimension of space" and (2) is ""eternalism vs presentism" debates: they're just battles about what terminology should be used." I think most philosophers of time would take these as wrong. Perhaps we need more philosophy/physics communication.
Ref: http://motls.blogspot.com/2011/09/ten-new-things-modern-physics-has.html
Posted by Pmerriam1 on September 09, 2011 at 02:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
At risk of shameless self-promotion, here's a video I recorded with Brady Haran at the University of Nottingham. It's an 'intro to phil time' piece.
Posted by Jonathan Tallant on September 08, 2011 at 03:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Lee Smolin of the Perimeter Institute has a great seminar on time at
http://streamer.perimeterinstitute.ca/Flash/9218e873-97d5-42ba-b1c7-70e498081c43/viewer.html
His basic idea is that we cannot neglect the successions of NOWs if we try to study the universe as a whole.http://streamer.perimeterinstitute.ca/Flash/9218e873-97d5-42ba-b1c7-70e498081c43/viewer.html
Posted by Pmerriam1 on August 06, 2011 at 07:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
I've written a number of articles on the nature of time and the nature of mind. I invite PTS members to read my articles:
http://time-mind.net/intro.html
Time Travel Without Paradoxhttp://time-mind.net/intro.html
http://time-mind.net/set_model.html
http://deoxy.org/superspace.htm
Target Article 61http://www.kjf.ca/61-TAAND.htm
Adhanom AndemicaelPosted by Adhanom Andemicael on July 19, 2011 at 12:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Professor Nathan Oaklander has recently given a lecture on Cosmological and Conscious Time. This can be viewed, here:
Posted by Jonathan Tallant on July 18, 2011 at 05:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Dear Members of the Philosophy of Time Society,
The Philosophy of Time Society requests submissions of high quality abstracts (150 words) on any topic relating to time for its group meeting at the American Philosophical Association Pacific Division, which will take place at the Westin Seattle from April 4-8, 2012, Seattle WA. Abstracts should be sent by email attachment to me (in capacity as Vice President of the PTS), by September 30. My email address is: [email protected]
Please also state if you wish whether you would be willing to serve as chair or commentator.
If you know of colleagues who might be interested in this announcement, please feel free to forward this email.
Posted by Jonathan Tallant on July 18, 2011 at 05:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
It's possible to make sense of "1 second per second".
This just means a clock-hand shows a difference of 1 second, through '1 second' of qualitative/absolute temporal flow. They are two different things. Thus, it makes sense to say, of a second clock, that it evolves at 1/2 second per second, if its relatively moving or in a gravitational gradient. It is *also* possible to say the second clock evolves at 1/2 second per second and mean you're only comparing the moving clock's hand positions with a local stationary clock's hand positions. That's all relativity does.
But in the previous sense, of things evolving in qualitative/absolute temporal flow, the local stationary clock evolves at a rate of 1 second per qualitative second, or q-second. The moving clock, similarly, evolves at a rate of 1 second per *its* q-second. Its q-seconds are not ontologically comparable to the local stationary q-seconds. The qualitative/absolute time is ontologically ineffable, as argued for previously. The ontologically "effable" part of time is given by the relativistic correlations. There is no fact of the matter, or ontologically possible comparison, between different q-seconds.
Posted by Pmerriam1 on June 08, 2011 at 09:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)
I would like to start a collaboration to investigate the idea that part of time is ontologically ineffable (incommunicable). For example, suppose I communicate to you a mathematical theory of time, e.g. time is like the real line. You can always counter: that's not a full theory of time, because math objects are timeless/static: you can always imagine a point moving along the real line that selects "the moment" that really exists. But a mathematical model can never account for this behavior, no matter how smart we are. So I'm thinking this may be an ontological phenomenon and not merely epistemological.
If so, this seems to lead to a new interpretation of quantum mechanics: to the extent objects are ontologically distinct, they evolve independently on distinct timelines. In a universe where all information is embodied information, this would lead to (relative) superpositions, since there is no "single time" when everything has a classical state.
I've started some ideas at http://reflectionssonntimee.blogspot.com/
Posted by Pmerriam1 on June 07, 2011 at 11:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
The Philosophy of Time Society requests submissions of high quality abstracts (150 words) on any topic relating to time for its group meeting at the American Philosophical Association Eastern Division, which will take place at the Marriott Wardman Park, in Washington, DC, from December 27-30, 2011. Abstracts should be sent by email attachment to the Vice President of the Society, Jonathan Tallant, by the 1st of May. [email protected]
Please also state if you wish whether you would be willing to serve as chair or commentator.
If you know of colleagues who might be interested in this announcement, please feel free to forward this message.
Posted by Adrian Bardon on January 11, 2011 at 04:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Although the mathematics of relativity is correct, I am provoked by the interpretation that it rules out 'time flow' and that present events are specified by simultaneity (a spacelike hypersurface will do). My paper "A theistic model of physical temporality" - giving both time flow and a relativistic present - has appeared in Analecta Husserliana, 2011, Vol. 107, Part 5, 289-295 (published November 2010). There are links to the final version (on SpringerLink) and to a freely available much longer form presented at the conference on Astronomy and Civilisation, Budapest, August 2009, at http://homepage.ntlworld.com/stone-catend/time.htm .
Posted by Anthony Stone on November 26, 2010 at 05:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
I'm happy to announce a new book in the philosophy of time. 'Presentism: Essential Readings', edited by Ernâni Magalhães and L. Nathan Oaklander, is now available through Lexington Books. For more details please check the publisher's website.
Posted by Jonathan Tallant on November 19, 2010 at 04:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Dear All,
The 2009-10 copy of Chronos has now been emailed out. If you have not received it, but think that you should have, please drop me a line: [email protected]
Posted by Adrian Bardon on September 24, 2010 at 11:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
The Philosophy of Time Society requests submissions of abstracts (150 words) on any topic relating to the philosophy of time for its group meeting at the Central Division meetings of the American Philosophical Association meetings March 30-April 2, 2011, Hilton Minneapolis Hotel, Minneapolis, MN. Abstracts should be sent by email attachment to the President of the Society, Professor L. Nathan Oaklander, at [email protected] by August 15. Please also advise whether you would be willing to serve as chair or commentator; volunteers willing to chair or comment but not planning to submit are also welcome.
In addition, we extend an invitation once again for submissions of abstracts for the Eastern Division PTS group meeting December 27-30, 2010, Boston, MA - Marriott/Westin-Copley Connection. The deadline for submissions for this meeting is May 1, and again submitted to the President by attachment to [email protected] .
If you know colleagues who might be interested in this announcement, please feel free to forward this email.
Posted by Jonathan Tallant on April 13, 2010 at 03:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Follow this link to see photos from our seminar this
weekend:
http://picasaweb.google.com/106587092335138408256/TimeSeminar?feat=directlink
Posted by Jonathan Tallant on April 13, 2010 at 03:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Dear Members,
I've emailed out the 2008/09 copy of Chronos, today, using our must up-do-date list of email addresses. If you have not received a copy, and think that you should have, please drop me a line: [email protected].
Best wishes,
Jonathan
Posted by Jonathan Tallant on September 25, 2009 at 04:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
I think I get some things in the special theory of relativity (STR) and in the Minkowski representation thereof. I think I get that there is no two-term earlier-than relation: 'X is earlier than Y' is just not well-formed in the theory. It only makes sense to suppose X is earlier than Y in frame of reference F. Now, the Minkowski representation of STR replaces spatial and temporal relations with a more basic spacetime relation. My question: suppose we take two 'events', E1 and E2, in the Minkowski representation, each occupying just one point. (These are not extended events or wordlines, but instantaneous elements.) Is the question what is the spacetime distance between E1 and E2 well formed? Is there a basic spacetime distance relation that is either frame invariant or frame independent in the Minkowski representation?
---Ernani
Posted by Ernâni Magalhães on May 13, 2009 at 04:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
The philosophy of time is apt to be affected by the analytic treatment of time in the formal developments of physics. I've come to some remarkable encouragement in my attempt to formulate physics entirely in terms of time sequence alone. My background is in philosophy of science with Grover Maxwell, many years ago. We shared an understanding of Russell's solution to the mind-body problem. In 2002-03, I wrote a "belated thesis" for Grover, who is deceased. It is basically a study of Russell and Whitehead's eventism, titled "The Mind-Body Problem and Its Solution." In the course of writing, I used simple arrow diagrams to depict what Russell calls "causal structure" and Whitehead calls "temporal succession." I noticed that what may be called "relative frequency ratios" are formed in such time diagrams. These may serve physics as relative energy ratios in accord with Planck's E=hf. This constitutes a structural definition of mass-energy in terms of time sequence alone. Encouraged by this, I proceeded with more arrow diagram constructions, arriving at a simple 4-D time lattice to replace "space-time." That in turn led me to the structure of neutrinos and electrons, and the definition of charge quanta. I extracted the formal material for a separate booklet titled "A Theory of Everything for Physics." I've been calling the theory "finite eventism." I have an article with that title, in a book edited by David Skrbina, which was just published.
Please search the phrase "finite eventism" for links to my posted writings on the theory, and to the Amazon web pages for my two self-published books.
-- Carey R. Carlson (guest member)
Posted by Carey Carlson on January 22, 2009 at 11:28 AM in Books | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)
Dear Members,
The Philosophy of Time Society requests submissions of high quality abstracts (150 words) on any topic relating to time for its group meeting at the Eastern APA, December 27-30, 2009, in New York City. Abstracts should be sent by email attachment to me by May 1. Please also advise whether you would be willing to serve as chair or commentator. Volunteers willing to chair or comment but not planning to submit are also welcome.
Sincerely,
Ernani Magalhaes
Secretary, Philosophy of Time Society
Posted by Adrian Bardon on January 12, 2009 at 12:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Dear all,
My paper "Temporal Passage" was posted in the Karl Jaspers Forum (KJF) on
the 8th of July, 2003 as "Target Article 61." The forum's website address
is:
http://www.KJF.ca
http://www.kjf.ca/61-TAAND.htm
The paper can also be accessed at my website:
http://home.att.net/~Andemicael/intro.html
Please read the article. And if you have any comments, please feel free to
post them at the KJF site.
Best regards,
Adhanom Andemicael
[email protected]
Posted by Adhanom Andemicael on November 23, 2008 at 10:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
The Philosophy of Time Society requests submissions of high-quality abstracts (150 words) on any topic relating to time for its group meeting at the 2009 Pacific APA, April 8-12, in Vancouver. Abstracts should be sent to L. Nathan Oaklander at [email protected] by September 30. Please also advise whether you would be willing to serve as chair or commentator.
Posted by Adrian Bardon on August 22, 2008 at 02:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Ryerson University is hosting the upcoming 33rd annual conference of the International Merleau-Ponty Circle:
"Time, Memory, and the Self: Remembering Merleau-Ponty at 100"
Ryerson University, September 18-20
See the conference website for details.
Posted by Adrian Bardon on July 25, 2008 at 03:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Routledge has just released a four-volume anthology on the philosophy of time, edited by L. Nathan Oaklander. See attached PDF for information. Download philosophy_time_std.pdf
Posted by Adrian Bardon on July 19, 2008 at 02:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)