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Michelangelo Moving Time, James Philip Anno

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Michelangelo's painting and sculpture have long been lauded for their clarity of form and force of expression. But his approach to figural narrative is far more elusive. Space and its representation in Renaissance art have enjoyed considerable attention; however, the corresponding problem of movement and its relationship to time remains understudied. A feature particular to Michelangelo's work is his compression of multiple narrative moments into one work of art. By asserting that the movement of Michelangelo's figures is an agent of temporal duration, this project investigates the interrelationship of time and movement in Michelangelo's art. Drawing upon the philosophy of …

Nietzsche's Eternal Recurrence As Untimeliness, Ana Cristina De Souza Pedroso

Theses and Dissertations

The idea of the eternal recurrence is central to Nietzsche’s later teachings. In this paper, I argue that the life-transformative effects Nietzsche is aiming at with the eternal recurrence parallel the life-transformative effects he has already construed with the notion of “untimeliness” in his earlier writings. My interpretive thesis is mainly supported by the following claim: in both modes one repeatedly experiences the time of her life as a whole. That is, one lives her life in such a way that there is nothing to look forward or nothing to look backwards outside of the present life simply because life, …

How To Understand The Debate Over Presentism And Eternalism, Travis Matthew Figg

Wayne State University Dissertations

Presentism is the view that, with the possible exception of things outside of time, everything that exists, exists at the present time. It is contrasted with eternalism, the view that everything which ever did exist or ever will exist, exists. Some philosophers argue that presentism and eternalism are not really substantive, opposed metaphysical theses. I consider some attempts in the literature to rebut this skeptical position, and argue that they are unsatisfactory. Then I make my own case for the conclusion that presentism and eternalism are substantive metaphysical theses by drawing a distinction between two ways of talking about what …

Nihilist Perdurantism: A New Ontology Of Material Objects, Brian Matthew Carlson

Theses and Dissertations--Philosophy

Ordinary material objects, such as guitars and houses, do not seem to pose any serious philosophical problems. However, the nature of the material objects and their part-whole relation raises serious questions about fundamental ontologies. Furthermore, part-whole relations are not necessarily spatial; they can be temporal as well.

My dissertation investigates the problems posed by ordinary material objects, and the different ontological views that attempt to provide answers to these problems. I then present a new and radical view, which I call Nihilist Perdurantism (NP). NP claims that objects have temporal parts, but not spatial parts. I arrive at this view …