Synopses & Reviews
These are just some of the fundamental questions addressed in Time and Space. Writing for a primary readership of advanced undergraduate and graduate philosophy students, Barry Dainton introduces the central ideas and arguments that make space and time such philosophically challenging topics. Although recognising that many issues in the philosophy of time and space involve technical features of physics, Dainton has been careful to keep the conceptual issues accessible to students with little scientific or mathematical training. Surveying historical debates and ideas at the forefront of contemporary thinking, the book is unrivaled in its coverage. Topics include McTaggart's argument for the unreality of change; static, tensed, and dynamic time; time travel and causal arrows; space as void, motion, and curved spac; as well as a non-technical introduction to the special theory of relativity and the key features of general relativity, spacetime, and strings. Dainton also addresses the relationship between the philosophy of time and broader human concerns involving actions, ethics, fatalism, and death.
Review
"Dainton provides a comprehensive and unified treatment of the core issues in the philosophy of space and time while also making a number of original contributions to the field. Time and Space is an engaging and well written book that is suitable for both advanced undergraduate and graduate courses." John Earman, professor of history and philosophy of science at the University of Pittsburgh. "Excellent ... deserves to be the new standard textbook on the philosophy of space and time." Jay Kennedy, visiting lecturer in philosophy, University of Manchester
Synopsis
Is the passage of time a basic feature of reality or merely illusory? How can the present move? Is the past real, or only the present? If the present is durationless, have we any reason to think that our now is the interface between past and future? Is space just nothingness, or is it an entity in its own right? Is there a spatial structure independent of things in space? Are objects separated by spatial relations, although space doesn't exist?