Harrington J. Time - A Philosophical Introduction

London, New Delhi, New York: Bloomsbury Academic, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2015. — XVI, 288 p.Time: A Philosophical Introduction presents the philosophy of time as the central debate between being and the becoming.This core theme brings together the key topics, debates and thinkers, making ideas such as Zeno's paradoxes, the experience of change and temporal flow and the direction and shape of time and time travel, clear and understandable. Alongside a glossary and detailed timeline to further enhance study and understanding, each chapter features:
Extensive lists of further reading in both primary and secondary sources
A chronological listing of key figures, brief biographical data and references
True/false questions, matching, multiple choice, and short answer questionsTime is a central philosophical subject, impacting on all many different aspects of philosophy. More technical discussions of issues from mathematics, logic and physics are separated into Technical Interludes,allowing readers to choose their level of difficultly. As a result this comprehensive introduction is essential reading for upper-level undergraduates studying the philosophy of time,metaphysics or the philosophy of science.The book is intended to be accessible to the interested reader with no philosophical or scientific background, but it does presuppose a willingness to work though some quite difficult material. While every author hopes that their book will be popular, this is not a popularizing book. A careful reader of the book, even one with no prior background, will be prepared to dip into the specialist literature on all of these topics by the time they’re finished.All chapters are designed with the beginning reader in mind and try not to presuppose any particular philosophical, mathematical, or scientific background. However, some readers are likely to find the language and the proposed frameworks of various chapters more familiar than others. Readers whose background and interests are more philosophically oriented may want to begin with the discussion of various classical metaphysical problems of time in Chapters 2–5. Except for the Technical Interlude in Chapter 2 and a brief digression on non-standard systems of logic in Chapter 4, these chapters are organized around standard philosophical problems and figures likely to be familiar to anyone with an exposure to the history of philosophy.Chapters 6–9, however, all involve debates and problems in contemporary physics — especially relativity theory, thermodynamics, and cosmology. Readers comfortable with contemporary physics might choose to begin with the second half of the book and later revisit the early chapters to place those issues into a broader philosophical context. Such readers are strongly encouraged to at least skim the early sections of Chapters 2 and 3 where some important terminology and concepts are introduced that are appealed to in the later chapters.A note on some of the special features of the book. In addition to the usual selection of discussion questions and suggested reading, there are other distinctive features to the book. The four technical interludes, in Chapters 2, 3, 6, and 9, can all be skipped on a first reading. The basic philosophical morals of those chapters don’t depend on them, although they are necessary to see why those morals hold. In addition, the Technical Interludes in Chapters 2, 6, and 9 do depend on each other to construct a general, if somewhat incomplete, account of the mathematical representation of time in physics. There are also two different collections of boxed material. The Historical Notes both provide useful historical background to the individual debates and can be assembled into a general account of the history of the philosophy of time. The Technical Asides are just that, interesting bits that some readers might find intriguing. Finally, the study exercises after Chapters 2, 4, and 5 are simply thought-provoking, related puzzles somewhat outside the general scope of the book.Thorough surveys of core philosophical topics are rare treasures, and this is one. Harrington (Loyola Univ. Chicago) intends this comprehensive treatment of time to enrich the study of key issues in metaphysics, logic, philosophy of language, epistemology, and philosophy of science. … Harrington enriches each chapter with brief supplemental discussions of major philosophers' thinking on time, applications for theories of time, and technical notes that explain specific terms and ideas. Each chapter also offers a study exercise and a set of discussion questions to inspire student work between or during classes and a bibliography of primary and secondary resources for further reading.Introduction: Being and Becoming
Zeno’s Paradoxes and the Nature of Change
McTaggart’s Paradox and the Unreality of Time
The Ontology of the Future
Flow, Change, and the Phenomenology of Time
Time as a Physical Quantity
The Direction of Time
The Shape of Time
Time Travel
Conclusions and Open QuestionsTechnical Terminology
Index