I would like to invite you to the first talk of my interdisciplinary seminar series. The series is entitled Our ‘Irrational’ Past: Theological, Religious, and Superseded Heritage of Academic Disciplines and it aims to investigate how academic disciplines took their current shape and how many of past theories and worldviews, now perhaps considered irrational, are still present in them as presuppositions. The series is a part of my IAS Pathways to Knowledge fellowship (more details here). You can find more details and the full annual schedule by following this link. All talks will be targeted at interdisciplinary audiences, so no prior knowledge of the topics presented is required.

The first talk will take place on Thursday week 4, 17:30-19:00 in C0.02, Zeeman Building. It will be presented by Dr Matyas Moravec from Queens University Belfast. It will be organised in a hybrid format and also joinable via Teams.

Please find the details about the first talk below:

• Speaker: Matyáš Moravec, Queens University Belfast, Philosophy
• Title: The Spooky Origins of Hypertime
• Location: C0.02, Institute of Advanced Studies, Zeeman Building, University of Warwick
• Time & Date: 17:30-19:00 BST, 24 Oct 2024, Thursday Week 4, Term 1.
• Meeting Link:
  Microsoft Teams
  Join the meeting now
  Meeting ID: 361 985 080 834
  Passcode: yAcRXL

Abstract:

Hypertime is a theory that postulates that time has two or more dimensions. Much of the groundwork underlying current theories of hypertime in analytic philosophy is generally attributed to discussions in the second half of the 20^th century—either in connection with the objection against the passage of time or as a means to resolve problems in the philosophy of time travel. This paper demonstrates that the historical roots of hypertime extend much further back. I will demonstrate that sophisticated theories of multi-dimensional time, hitherto neglected by historians of philosophy, were developed by philosophers decades before the interest in time travel took off. These early pioneers of hypertime were working on “psychical research,” the study of psychical phenomena such as telepathy, clairvoyance, or ghosts, widely popular towards the end of the 19^th and the beginning of the 20^th century. They developed multi-dimensional time as a tool to resolve various problems with precognition, the purported ability to see the future. I will conclude by indicating the pitfalls of neglecting this important chapter in the history of the philosophy of time.

If you have questions or suggestions, please don’t hesitate to contact me on dino.jakusic.1@warwick.ac.uk