Philoponus on the Nature of Time

Abstract

John Philoponus produced an influential argument that time must have had a beginning. While that argument has been widely discussed, particularly in its Kantian form, little attention has been paid to his view of the nature of time, which is contained in his exposition of Aristotle. Yet the argument seems to rest on his view of the nature of time. I produce a sketch of his dynamic and relationist account of time and explain how it can overcome various problems raised by Aristotle. I also explain how, with a little help from Damascius, he could have overcome a problem raised for dynamic theories of time by McTaggart and Smart. I argue that it might well be possible to modernise his view in the light of modern science.