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Time, Identity & Free Will

The Metaphysics of Groundhog Day

Lawrence Crocker says it’s about time, and personal identity, and free will.

The 1993 movie Groundhog Day was, of course, made as an exploration of the metaphysics of time. The basic idea is that for on-location TV weatherman Phil Connors, the same Groundhog Day, February 2, in Punxsutawney keeps repeating. Only Phil, played by Bill Murray, retains his memory of the day’s previous iterations. The loop appears to be universe-wide, and one that physicists would have no Phil-independent means of detecting.

It’s not the only movie featuring time loops.

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