“Reality as humans know it, from the cosmic order to our subjective human experience, has a temporal dimension.

Here are some of the questions we will consider: What is time; Is time objective or subjective; Does time have a direction and could that be reversed, this entails the question of time travel; What role does time play in human reasoning; Which features of our ordinary sense of the word "time" can be captured by the concept of time in physics; What neural mechanisms account for our experience of time.

In contemporary physics the direction of time may be reversible, but this is paradoxical to our ordinary experience of time: a broken glass cannot reassemble and fly back onto the table; we have memories of the past, and none of the future; we feel we can't change the past but can influence the future, we will discuss these issues.

Phenomenological Perspective. ‘A full and interesting content can put wings to the hour and the day’: This quote from Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain expresses nicely the internal aspects of time perception. Philosophers such as Bergson and phenomenologists such as Husserl thought deeply about subjective time.

Time and the Brain.

Neuroscientists have come to agree that the brain takes an active role in building a mental temporal picture of reality. What are the neural mechanisms that account for our experience of time; Our awareness of change; Our ability to anticipate the future; Our sense of time’s flow; And our ability to place events into the correct order of temporal succession”

Speaker: 

Dr Kerry Sanders gained her PhD in philosophy at The University of Sydney. She lectured at Sydney College of the Arts University of Sydney for 10 years, giving Hon and Masters Courses in the philosophy of aesthetics.

Kerry has taught in the areas of Philosophy of Mind; Ethics; Critical Thinking; Political Philosophy; Contemporary Philosophy of Technology; Phenomenology; and the Philosophy of Music. Kerry also participates in the Gifted Students Program, giving philosophy sessions to high school students who show an interest in a broad scope of ideas and wish to develop their thinking abilities through the challenge which philosophy gives. Kerry has also published a book of poetry.  

Kerry’s Approach to Philosophy

Philosophy is a living practice which calls us to critique our own presuppositions, and asks us to assess ideas in relation to our own lives and society. In engaging with the ideas of philosophy we both study philosophy but also do it.

Philosophy can be thought of as engaging in an ‘adventure sport for the mind’, in which we can develop critical thinking techniques and learn to use the mind in new and exciting ways.

The skills which are developed in the practice of philosophy are also relevant to many other areas of academic study, as well as in the complex living of our ordinary lives.

Much of Western philosophy is based on the priority of reason and logic in human thought, however to fully understand the human condition we must also consider the role of experience, emotions and the body.

If you wish to attend there is no need to book - just go along on the night.  After the talk there will be an opportunity for discussion over drinks or dinner for those who wish to participate in this way, at the Bistro at the Port Macquarie Hotel opposite the Glasshouse.

Date:     Sunday 19th January, 2020

Time:    6pm to about 7.30pm  

Venue:  The Glasshouse, Port Macquarie                         

Entry:   $10 general entry including seniors; $5 pensioners and students