24.810: Topics in the Philosophy of Science---Spacetime!

Spring 2008

Instructor: Brad Skow (follow link for contact information).

Lectures: Th 2-5, room 32-D831 (note: eighth floor!).

Course Description: John Earman wrote, "Space-time is the basic spatiotemporal entity. Many philosophers have mouthed this truth, but few have swallowed it, and very few have digested it." The purpose of this course is to get your digestive juices flowing.

Readings: The Geroch book has been ordered from the COOP. Other readings not linked below may be found on the stellar site. There is also a list of recommendations for further reading for some of the topics.

Visitors:

• March 14: Adam Elga, Princeton.
• April 10: Agustin Rayo, MIT.
• April 24: Phillip Bricker, UMass/Amherst.

Feb 7: The Geometries of Spacetime: Classical Spacetimes.

Lecture notes.
Maudlin, Quantum Non-Locality and Relativity, Chapter 2, to page 43.
Earman, World Enough and Spacetime, Chapter 2.
Geroch, General Relativity from A to B, part A.

Feb 14: Absolutism, Relationalism, Substantivalism, and so on.

Descartes, Principles of Philosophy, excerpt.
Newton, Principia, scholium to the definitions.
Rynasiewicz, Newton's Views on Space, Time, and Motion.
Belot, Whatever is Never and Nowhere is Not, Ch 1.2-2 (skip sections 2.4-2.6, and skim 2.11-2.12.)

Feb 21: The Geometries of Spacetime: Relativity.

Lecture Notes.
Maulin, Chapter 2, page 43-end.
Geroch, part B.

Feb 26 (Special Tuesday Session, 3:00-6:00): Absolutism, etc., continued.

Belot, ch. 2.4; ch. 3.

March 6: Time Travel and Physics, I.

Lewis, "The Paradoxes of Time Travel."
Arntzenius, "Time Travel: Double Your Fun," sections 1-3, 6-8.

March 14: Time Travel and Physics, II (Special Friday Session, 3:00-6:00)

Guest Leader: Adam Elga.

Arntzenius and Maudlin, Time Travel and Modern Physics.

March 18 (Special Tuesday Session, 3:00-6:00pm): Time Travel Concluded; Relativity, Presentism, and the Passage of Time.

Malament, "Time Travel in the Goedel Universe."
Putnam, "Time and Physical Geometry."
Stein, "On Einstein--Minkowski Space-Time."
Saunders, How Relativity Contradicts Presentism.

March 27: Spring Break!

April 3: Relativity, Presentism, and the Passage of Time, continued.

Zimmerman, The Privileged Present, pages 20-39.
Crisp, "Presentism, Eternalism, and Relativity Physics."
Callender, Shedding Light on Time.
Skow, Relativity and the Moving Spotlight.

April 10: Paradox & Infinity, and Relativity.

Earman and Norton, "Forever is a Day."
Arntzenius, "Infinity, Relativity and Smoothness."

April 15: Class Canceled (Visiting Committee, Central APA).

April 24: The Metaphysics of Geometry.

Bricker, "The Fabric of Space: Intrinsic Vs. Extrinsic Distance Relations."
Maudlin, "Suggestions from Physics for Deep Metaphysics," to page 89.

May 1: Geometrical Non-Foundationalism.

Sklar, Space, Time, and Spacetime, excerpt on the Causal Theory of time.
Winnie, The Causal Theory of Time, excerpt.
Pooley and Brown, Minkowski Spacetime: A Glorious Non-Entity?.
Norton, Why Constructive Relativity Fails.

May 8: Fiber Bundles, Curved Spacetime, and the Problem of Universals.

Maudlin, "Suggestions from Physics for Deep Metaphysics," page 89 to end.
Forrest, "New Problems with Repeatable Properties and with Change."

May 15: Black Holes.

Geroch, section 8.