Blog & Podcasts

“Time: Exploring its Philosophy and History”

Does the past exist?
How do things change?
How do we relate to our futures?

All humans experience time, yet we rarely ask these questions. This series of posts pulls together answers, by established and emerging philosophers of time. It enquires into time travel, the nature of eternity, clock time and lived time. Many debates ongoing in the philosophy of time today are rooted in the twentieth century, and this series also introduces some of the key historical figures and ideas. For example, William James (1842–1910) popularised the notion of the ‘specious present’, the unit of time that humans perceive. Henri Bergson (1859–1941) revolutionised our understanding of memory. J. M. E. McTaggart (1866-1925) argued that time is unreal, and his views are still vigorously discussed today.

This series is organised by Emily Thomas, as part of her
British Academy “Rising Star” Award. It is supported by the Centre for the Philosophy of Time.