Inventing Time: Past, Present, and Future in British Metaphysics 1878-1938

Are the past or future real?
Does time have an irreversible direction, from past to future?
Does the present really move, such that a wedding in the future becomes present, and then past?

Today, these questions are central to the philosophy of time. Yet that was not always the case. Through my previous work on the history of philosophy of time, I have come to believe these questions were invented relatively recently: they were first discussed explicitly and at length in British philosophy between the 1870s and the 1930s. During this period, philosophers developed these new questions about time, and new answers. For example, 'eternalists' argued that the past, present and future are real. 'Growing block' theorists argued that the past and present are real, yet the future is unreal. 'A theorists' argued the present really moves, whilst 'B theorists' denied it. Twenty-first century philosophers of time frequently cite key works from the early twentieth century, showing they connect contemporary theories with this history too.
This history of philosophy project tells 'origin stories'. It explores why and how new questions about the past, present and future emerged in British philosophy around the turn of the twentieth century. My preliminary research suggests twelve philosophers were at the centre of these changes: Shadworth Hodgson, Bertrand Russell, Victoria Welby, J. M. E. McTaggart, Arthur Eddington, Susan Stebbing, Samuel Alexander, C. D. Broad, A. N. Whitehead, J. W. Dunne, Hilda Oakeley, and May Sinclair. This project will explore their theories of time, and contextualise them in the period. Their work was affected by developments in science, including new theories of evolution in biology, new theories of time perception in psychology, and new theories about spacetime in physics.

This study will be the first of its kind, and it is important for three reasons. First, it will advance the history of philosophy of time. Time was a key issue in British philosophy in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries: I am not aware of any British metaphysician during this period who does not write something on time. Studying this issue in British philosophy will hugely increase our understanding of their theories of time, and of British metaphysics during this period more generally.
Second, it will advance the project of recovering the work of historical women philosophers. Four of the twelve philosophers I will focus on are women: Sinclair, Welby, Oakeley and Stebbing. There is currently very, very little scholarship on these women, and this project will open paths for more in the future.
Finally, this project may advance twenty-first century debates. Philosophers of time today are still deeply concerned with some of the historical pieces this project will consider. McTaggart's 1908 paper "The Unreality of Time" has been cited nearly a thousand times since 2010, and Russell's 1915 paper "On the Experience of Time" has been cited nearly a hundred times in the same period. Studying the roots of twenty-first century theories about time will illuminate assumptions, reveal hidden motivations, and recover lost arguments. This work may be of use to contemporary philosophers of time.

The scholarly interest in this project is demonstrated by the success of a conference I ran in Durham, on "Time in Twentieth and Twenty-first Century Philosophy". It took place in September 2017 and was funded by my British Academy Rising Star grant. Historians and philosophers of time engaged fruitfully, and later turned their papers into a series of blog posts and podcasts. I edited the series and it was hosted on the Centre for the Philosophy of Time's website: http://www.centreforphilosophyoftime.it.

Beyond scholarship, this project will have impact in two ways. First, it will enrich Britain's cultural life. There is currently huge interest in time, exemplified by documentary series such as Time (BBC Four, 2006); and Through the Wormhole (Science, 2010-15) which featured four episodes on time. There is also growing interest in women intellectuals, evidenced in the popularity of Mary Beard's (2017) Women & Power: A Manifesto.
My project has the potential to increase societal understanding of time, and historical women philosophers. Catering to existing public interest, I will produce a five-part series of radio shows and magazine articles about theories of time around the turn of the twentieth century, and women philosophers. The series will cover topics such as the reality of the past and present, and the impact of science on philosophy of time. I will pitch the articles to venues such as The Conversation, and radio shows to the BBC. One of my contacts at the BBC, radio producer Jacqueline Smith, writes she is 'fascinated' by this project, and interested in making shows about it. In addition, I will host three "Ask a Philosopher" sessions on Twitter, allowing people to speak to me directly about my research.
I am confident of my ability to do this, as I am already becoming an early career popular philosopher. My forthcoming second monograph, Exploring the Philosophy of Travel, is a trade book aimed at the general public. I have previously authored articles for The Conversation magazine that were read by 100,000+ readers, and successfully pitched (and appeared on) BBC radio shows. In addition, I have produced several online 'explainer' videos, podcasts, and blog posts on popular philosophy (please see the 'Media' section of my Publication List).
I will disseminate the series through my contacts, Twitter, and Durham's Media Relations unit. The unit has already provided me with some media training and offered more; they will also be able to help me make contact with other producers and journalists. In this way, the project will enhance the public's understanding of historical theories of time and women philosophers.

Second, the project would help tackle the under-representation of women in philosophy.
Women are seriously under-represented in philosophy today: only 19% of UK philosophy professors are female. There is evidence that this is at least partly because philosophy is 'coded as male' through gender stereotypes. One way of tackling the under-representation of women is to disrupt the gender schemes that code philosophy as male, by exposing people to female philosophers.
History of philosophy courses overwhelmingly focus on men, such as Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Descartes, Hobbes, Kant, Frege, Wittgenstein. One way of disrupting the gender coding of philosophy is to introduce historical women philosophers into these courses. An obstacle is that there is very little secondary literature on historical women philosophers. My project would help to fill that gap, providing further literature on the women philosophers Hilda Oakeley, May Sinclair, Susan Stebbing and Victoria Welby. Such secondary literature would make it easier to include their texts on undergraduate or postgraduate courses on twentieth century philosophy, or the history of analytic philosophy. I will disseminate this research through national and international talks, and this awareness raising will also play a part disrupting the male coding of philosophy.
There is reason to believe this process will be of interest beyond the discipline of philosophy itself. Recent discussions on the state of women in philosophy have appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, and The Philosopher's Magazine, salon.com and BBC Radio 4. More media coverage would further contribute to breaking the existing gender coding.