Phil544
PHIL 544 Special Issues in Philosophy II
Fall 2008-2009
The purpose of this course is to get the students acquainted with some of the issues in the analytic philosophy of space and time. Among the topics we will focus on are the following: Einstein’s special and general theories of relativity. Relativistic time dilation and length contraction. The twin paradox. Lorentz’s ether interpretation of the relativistic results. Event ontology vs. object ontology. Is the present (“now”) real? Block universe. Do relativity theories imply that there is no past, present and future? Is all change unreal and illusory? McTaggart’s argument for the unreality of time. Do relativity theories imply fatalism? Aristotle and Leibniz on the problem of change. Ontology of relations. Why do we think the physical world is four dimensional? Relativity of space and of time, and absoluteness of spacetime. Non-Euclidean geometries. Is time travel possible? The substantival and relational theories of space and of time. Newton’s bucket experiment. Newton-Leibniz controversy on the absolute space. Kant on incongruent counterparts. Are space and time infinite or is there a beginning and an end to them? Zeno’s paradoxes. What does it mean to say space or spacetime is curved? EPR experiment. What does modern physics have to say about the origin of the universe?.
OFFICE MATTERS:
Office : Room B139 in the Social Sciences Building.
Office hours : Tue 15:40-17:30; Thu 15:40-16:30. Other meeting times with the instructor are also possible by prior appointment.
Office phone : On campus: 5339; off campus: 210-5339. You can leave a message on the answering machine.
E-mail : esayan@metu.edu.tr
COURSE REQUIREMENTS :
Attendance and active class participation are required. You must come to class having done the assigned reading, and must be prepared to orally answer my questions on the reading assignment during class. A brief quiz will be given every week consisting of a couple of questions on the reading assignment for that week. There will be no class presentations by students. Students who are late for class or who leave the class early for other than medical reasons will lose points on the attendance and participation portion of the grade.
You will also be required to write two papers. The length of each paper should not be less than 7 and more than 10 pages (not including the “References” section). The pages must be double-spaced (i.e. about 24-25 lines per page) and written in Times New Roman with 12 pts font or its equivalent. Papers outside these length limitations will lose points for being too short or too long. The first paper is due in the middle of the semester, and the second the end. The vague words ‘middle’ and ‘end’ here will be made precise later. Your papers must be on different topics, as opposed to the second paper being a mere follow-up of the first one. The topics must, of course, be related to the course material. You are advised to consult with me and get my approval about the topics you want to choose for your papers. Needless to say, the papers must comply with the academic norms of format and style. Put more bluntly, noncompliance will lose you points. A number of sample graduate-student papers written in the past will be made available in the library for you to look at.
Each of your papers will carry a weight of 35%. The total weight of the attendance to classes, contribution to class discussion, and the quizzes will be 30%.
For an encyclopedia of philosophy on the Web see, “Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy” at:
http://plato.stanford.edu
TEXT:
Required:
J. B. Kennedy, Space, Time and Einstein: An Introduction (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2003).
Optional but highly recommended:
“Reality and the Quantum,” Ch. 3 in Paul Davies, Superforce: The Search for a Grand Unified Theory of Nature (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1984).
“Space and Time,” Ch.25 in Roger Scruton, Modern Philosophy: An Introduction and Survey (New York: Penguin Books, 1994).
“Space and Time,” Ch. 5 in Brian Carr, Metaphysics: An Introduction (Atlantic Highlands: Humanities Press International, 1987).
“Worlds, Objects, and Structure,” Ch. 6 in Bruce Aune, Metaphysics: The Elements (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1985).