This module is not currently running in 2024 to 2025.
What is time? Augustine famously answered 'If nobody is asking me, I know; if somebody asks and I try to explain, I don't know’. In this module we try to explain what time is, and reflect upon the condition of living in time. The module will cover challenges to our understanding of time from physics, psychology, and philosophy, and will engage with problems of acting and living within a changing world.
Total Contact Hours: 20
Total Private Study Hours: 130
Total Study Hours: 150
Main assessment methods:
Essay (1,500 words) 40%
Reflection (1,000 words) 35%
Reflective Diary (10 x 100 words) 15%
Seminar Performance 10%
Reassessment methods:
100% Coursework (2,000 words)
Indicative Reading List:
Baron, S. and Miller, K. (2018). An Introduction to Philosophy of Time, London: Polity Press.
Callender, C. (2017). What Makes Time Special? Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Maudlin, T. (2012). Philosophy of Physics: Space and Time, Oxford: Princeton University Press.
Parfit, D. (1984). Reasons and Persons Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Sullivan, M. (2018). Time Biases, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
The intended subject specific learning outcomes.
On successfully completing the module students will be able to:
1 Demonstrate an understanding of basic issues in the philosophy of time;
2 Think out, articulate, and defend their views on some basic issues in the philosophy of time;
3 Reflect on their own experiences of change over time.
The intended generic learning outcomes.
On successfully completing the module students will be able to:
1 Demonstrate skills in critical analysis and argument through an engagement with these issues, both through their reading and through listening to others;
2 Demonstrate an ability to make complex ideas clearly understandable in their philosophical writing;
3 Demonstrate an ability to make complex ideas clearly understandable for a live audience and have developed their ability to work autonomously and to take responsibility for their learning;
4 Engage critically, in a variety of media, with their own views and views of others.
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