Time of Nature and the Nature of Time

Christophe Bouton is Professor of Philosophy at University Bordeaux Montaigne. His research area is focused on the issue of time in the contemporary philosophy. He was Fellow of the Institut Universitaire de France (Research Project 2008-2013: ‘Time: Philosophical and Scientific Approaches’), visiting scholar at the Centre for Time of the University of Sydney (April -July 2012) and at NYU Philosophy Department (April-July 2015), and visiting Professor at the Southern Illinois University Carbondale (Phenomenology Research Center, March 2013). Principal publication on the issue of time: "The Emergence of Time: Kant, Bergson, and Modern Physics”, KronoScope 13:1 (2013) 96-111, Time and Freedom, Chicago, Northwestern University Press, SPEP Series, 2014 (translation of Temps et liberté, Toulouse, Presses Universitaires du Mirail, 2007). Arial, sans-serif">Philippe Huneman is a Researcher (Directeur de recherche) at the Institut d’Histoire et de Philosophie des Sciences et des Techniques, CNRS/Université Paris I Sorbonne. After having worked and published on the constitution of the concept of organism and Kantian metaphysics, he currently investigates philosophical issues in evolutionary theory and ecology, such as the emergence of individuality, the relations between variation and natural selection in evolutionary theory, the role of the concept of organism, and the varieties of explanations in ecology. He was a visiting professor at the University of Chicago (2005). His research has been published in Erkenntnis, Synthese, Philosophy of Science, Minds and Machines, etc. and as editor he recently published Functions: selection and mechanisms (Synthese Library, Springer, 2012), from groups to individuals. Evolution and emerging individuality (MIT Press, 2013, with Frédéric Bouchard), and Handbook of evolutionary thinking in the sciences (Springer, 2013 translation of Les Mondes Darwiniens, Paris, 2009, ed. with Heams T., Lecointre G., Silberstein M.) He belongs to the editorial board of the European Journal for Philosophy of Science and is the series coeditor of “History, Philosophy and Theory in the Life Sciences” (Springer).

“This is an interdisciplinary edited collection that aims to expand the study of philosophy of time from the usual metaphysical motley crew of issues. …  This book is a good place to begin this exploration.” (Dean Rickles, Journal for General Philosophy of Science, Vol. 50, 2019)“The variety of topics addressed at a high level of expertise makes one of those books that upon completion of a first reading urge one to go back and start afresh. … This is a book that both teaches and provides fertile ground for philosophical reflection; a ‘must’ for expert and student alike.” (Vassilis Sakellariou, Metascience, August, 2018)

• Chapter 1. Introduction: Time Between Metaphysics and Natural Sciences: From Physics to Biology (Christophe Bouton).- Part I. The Experience of Time and the Scientific Framing of Time.- Chapter 2. Passage, Flow, and the Logic of Temporal Perspectives (Jenann Ismael).- Chapter 3. Time of Logics and Time of Physics (Carlo Proietti).- Chapter 4. Time Variable and Time Scales in Natural Systems and their Modeling (Annick Lesne).- Chapter 5. On Time and the Varieties of Science (Kristie Miller).- Part II. Time Paradoxes in Physics.- Chapter 6. Is the Future already Present? The Special Theory of Relativity and the Block Universe View (Christophe Bouton).- Chapter 7. Dispelling the Quantum Spooks – a Clue that Einstein Missed? (Huw Price).- Chapter 8. On time, causation and explanation in the causally symmetric Bohmian model of quantum mechanics (Joseph Berkovitz).- Chapter 9. The Representation of Time in Discrete Mechanics (Anouk Barberousse).- Part III. Dealing with deep time (Paleontology).- Chapter 10. Paleontology: Outrunning Time (John Huss).- Chapter 11. The Biologist’s time and Deep Time: essay on the psychology of the Paleobiologist (Armand J. de Ricqlès).- Chapter 12. The Making of Paleontological Time (Pascal Tassy).- Part IV. Time of the Evolution (Evolutionary and developmental Biology).- Chapter 13. Repetition and Reversibility in Evolution: Theoretical Population Genetics (Jean Gayon).- Chapter 14. Macroevolution and Microevolution: Issues of Time Scale in Evolutionary Biology (Philippe Huneman).- Chapter 15. The timing of development (Antonine Nicoglou).