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PH353Z: PHILOSOPHY OF TIME (2016-2017)

Last modified: 28 Jun 2018 10:27


Course Overview

How does time feature in the physical description of the world, and how does this description relate to how time appears to us? Among other things, this course will look at how time is defined and used in the physics from Aristotle to Einstein, at the experience of a 'flow' of time, at time travel, at why Champagne corks pop but not 'unpop', and at whether one could causally affect the past.

Course Details

Study Type Undergraduate Level 3
Term Second Term Credit Points 30 credits (15 ECTS credits)
Campus None. Sustained Study No
Co-ordinators
  • Dr Paula Sweeney

Qualification Prerequisites

None.

What courses & programmes must have been taken before this course?

  • Programme Level 3
  • Philosophy (PH)
  • Any Undergraduate Programme (Studied)

What other courses must be taken with this course?

None.

What courses cannot be taken with this course?

None.

Are there a limited number of places available?

No

Course Description

The main problems about time concern the relation between how time appears to us and how it features in the physical description of the world. To us time appears as flowing and as possessing a direction; the past seems fixed and the future open to influence. In physics, time is just a parameter used in our description, with no apparent flow; and while some phenomena (Champagne corks popping) are more familiar than their time inverses, the fundamental laws underlying them seem to be essentially time-symmetric. This course will introduce and discuss these problems.


Contact Teaching Time

Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.

Teaching Breakdown

More Information about Week Numbers


Details, including assessments, may be subject to change until 30 August 2024 for 1st term courses and 20 December 2024 for 2nd term courses.

Summative Assessments

1st Attempt: 2 x 2500-word essays (50% each)
Resit: 2500-word essay (100%)

Formative Assessment

There are no assessments for this course.

Feedback

None.

Course Learning Outcomes

None.

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