Time for Aristotle (Oxford Aristotle Studies)

205 Pages·2005·1.03 MB·English

by  Ursula Coope

TIME FOR ARISTOTLE
OXFORD ARISTOTLE STUDIES
GeneralEditors
JuliaAnnasandLindsayJudson
published in the series
AristotleonMeaningandEssence
DavidCharles
TimeforAristotle
PhysicsIV.10–14
UrsulaCoope
AristotleonTeleology
MonteRansomeJohnson
OnLocation
Aristotle’sConceptofPlace
BenjaminMorison
OrderinMultiplicity
HomonymyinthePhilosophyofAristotle
ChristopherShields
Aristotle’sTheoryofSubstance
TheCategoriesandMetaphysicsZeta
MichaelV.Wedin
Aristotle’sDeInterpretatione
ContradictionandDialectic
C.W.A.Whitaker
T
ime for
Aristotle
Physics IV.10–14
URSULA COOPE
CLARENDON PRESS . OXFORD
3
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To Nicholas,
who was just starting out in philosophy
atque in perpetuum, frater, ave atque vale
This page intentionally left blank
Preface
This book is a much revised version of my Ph.D. dissertation. It is a
product not only of my own efforts, but also of the help and advice I
have received, over the years, from others. Above all, I would like to
thankSarahBroadie.MyinterestinAristotle’sdiscussionoftimestems
from a graduate seminar of hers on Physics III–IV. Without her, it is
unlikely that I would have written either the book or the dissertation.
She has read and commented on every draft, and has from first to last
been a source of encouragement, helpful criticisms, and interesting
suggestions.
IwasalsoveryluckytobeabletoworkwithAlanCodeatBerkeley,
whenIwasinthefinalstagesofwritingthedissertation.Idiscussedeach
chapterwithhimasIwroteit,andbenefitedagreatdealfromhisability
tocomeupwithargumentsindefenceofmyposition,atatimewhenI
couldonlyseewhatappearedtobedevastatingobjectionstoit.Though
Ionlyworkedwithhimforashorttime,thebookisverymuchbetteras
a result. I would also like to thank Tony Long, who, as one of my
examiners, read the final version of the dissertation and made several
helpfulcommentsonit.
A number of people, besides those named above, have read and
commented on drafts of all or part of the book. Between them, they
have saved me from many blunders and confusions. My particular
thanks, for this, go to Verity Harte, Bob Heinaman, Philip Hunter,
Jonathan Lear, and Ben Morison. Edward Hussey, who read the book
for OUP, wrote pages of detailed comments, full of interesting and
constructive criticisms, and an anonymous referee for OUPalso made
many helpful suggestions for improvement. I would also like to thank
Peter Momtchiloff of OUP for his helpfulness and for his patience in
thefaceofmanymisseddeadlines.
Mostoftheworkformydissertationwasdoneduringthethreeyears
IspentasavisitinggraduatestudentatPrinceton.Iwouldliketothank
the Philosophy Department there, and especially the members of the
ancientphilosophyprogram,forprovidingsuchafriendlyandintellec-
tuallystimulatingenvironment.Iwasparticularlyfortunatetobethere
viii Preface
atthesametimeasmyfellowstudents,JonathanBeere,ZenaHitz,and
GabrielRichardson-Lear.Manyoftheideasinthisbookweredeveloped
inconversationswiththem,andtheirfriendshipwasagreatsupportto
meinverydifficulttimes.
Theworkofturningthedissertationintoabookwasmostlycarried
out in London, first of all as a Jacobsen Fellow at University College
and, more recently, as a lecturer at Birkbeck. I am grateful to my
colleagues and students in London for helping to make it such a
wonderful place to study philosophy. Much of the material in the
book was presented as part of a graduate seminar I gave at Princeton,
when I was a visiting assistant professor there in 2003. I thank the
participantsinthatseminarformuchinterestingdiscussion.Thanksare
duealsotoPrincetonforinvitingme,andtomyBirkbeckcolleaguesfor
allowingmetotakeuptheoffer.Ihavepresentedpapersbasedondrafts
of parts of the book to audiences at the Cambridge B-Club, the
Northern Association of Ancient Philosophy, the UCL Department of
ScienceandTechnologyStudies,andtothephilosophydepartmentsat
Birkbeck, Bristol, Princeton, Sheffield, and St Andrews. I am grateful
for the many interesting comments and questions I received on these
occasions.
Finally,manythankstomyparents,ChristopherCoopeandJennifer
Jackson,foralltheirsupportandencouragementovertheyears,andto
my husband, Philip Hunter, for making the final stages of writing the
book so extraordinarily happy. Time for Aristotle is dedicated to my
youngerbrother,Nicholas,whodiedclimbinginGlenClova,whenhe
wasjustabouttoembarkonaphilosophydegreeatStAndrews.
Contents
Introduction 1
PART I – INTRODUCTORY PUZZLES AND
THE STARTING POINTS OF INQUIRY
1. Theintroductory puzzles 17
2. Timeisnotchangebutsomethingofchange 31
PART II – TIME’S DEPENDENCE ON CHANGE
3. Timefollowschangeandchangefollowsmagnitude 47
4. Thebeforeandafter 60
PART III – TIME AS A NUMBER AND
TIME AS A MEASURE
5. Thedefinitionoftimeasakindofnumber 85
6. Timeasameasureofchange 99
PART IV – THE SAMENESS AND DIFFERENCE
OF TIMES AND NOWS
7. Allsimultaneoustimeisthesame 113
8. Thesamenessofearlierandlatertimesandnows 125
PART V – TWO CONSEQUENCES OF
ARISTOTLE’S ACCOUNT OF TIME
9. Beingintime 143
10. Timeandthesoul 159
Appendix:Theexpression‘hopoteonXesti’ 173
Bibliography 178
IndexLocorum 183
GeneralIndex 189