Metaphysics of Time

The seminar ‘Metaphysics and Time’ is a philosophy seminar. We will be reading with a view to clarifying metaphysics – a subject that is repeatedly underestimated – particularly through the lens of the question of time. Armen Avanessian’s book *Metaphysics of Time* (Merve Verlag, 2018) – the seminar’s primary text – explores the nature of time in our own era: ‘What does it mean for a society when the meaning of its terms and concepts – whether grounded in metaphysics or the natural sciences – changes? And not imperceptibly over generations, but within a few years, so that this becomes noticeable in the lives of individuals. We are experiencing such a time, in which not only things are changing, but time itself.’ (p. 27)

Over the course of the seminar, we will work our way thoroughly through the book, raising many related questions which we will also discuss (including, of course, with the help of AI).

Marion Körner and Birger Priddat will guide you through the reading; it would be extremely helpful if you could read the book in advance so that you can make a note of any questions that we should address in particular. As we will be working on the text in the traditional manner, it would be excellent if you could attend every session.

The only prerequisite for the seminar is a philosophical curiosity.