Time, Change and Freedom: An Introduction to Metaphysics

ISBN-13: 9780415102483 / Angielski / Twarda / 1995 / 228 str.

Quentin Smith; N. Oaklander; L. Nathan Oaklander

Opis

This introduction to metaphysics is tied together by the idea of time. It explores ideas such as whether there was a beginning of time and the possibility of an infinite past and an eternal future. It looks at what happens when things change, and what affect that has on us and our personal identity. The book also asks if we can be free and what is the relationship of human freedom to various theories of divine foreknowledge and determinism? The final part of the book brings students up to date with theories of relativity and contemporary cosmology about time and the universe.

Recenzje

'... address topics that intersect both metaphysics and science in ways that ... shed light on their troubled relationship.' - Philosophia

Spis treści

Introduction Part I The finite and the infinite Dialogue 1 The beginning of time Dialogue 2 The infinity of past and future time Dialogue 3 The relational and substantival theories of time Dialogue 4 Eternity Part II Time and identity Dialogue 5 The problem of change Dialogue 6 The passage of time Dialogue 7 Personal identity Dialogue 8 Personal identity and time Part III The nature of freedom Dialogue 9 Fatalism and tenseless time Dialogue 10 God, time and freedom Dialogue 11 Freedom, determinism and responsibility

O autorze

Quentin Smith is Professor of Philosophy at Western Michigan University. L. Nathan Oaklander is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Michigan-Flint.