The Ontology of Time

by Oaklander, L. Nathan

• ISBN13: 9781591021971
• ISBN10: 1591021979
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2004-07-01
• Publisher: Prometheus Books

Summary

L Nathan Oaklander is internationally recognised as a leading defender of the tenseless theory of time. The thirty-one essays by Oaklander in this very useful collection have helped shape recent discussions of temporal becoming, and are frequently cited in the literature on the philosophy of time. Philosophers who hold that there is temporal becoming -- meaning that events are first future, then become present, and finally become past -- are proponents of the "tensed" theory of time. By contrast, philosophers who claim that all successively ordered events have the same ontological status -- meaning that events do not 'come into being' as such but merely exist 'without becoming' at their respective temporal locations -- are proponents of the 'tenseless' theory of time. Oaklander's lucid exposition of the critical issues involved in the study of time make this book essential for students, scholars, and anyone interested in this complex area of philosophy.

Author Biography

L. Nathan Oaklander is a professor of philosophy and chair of the Department of Philosophy at the University of Michigan - Flint.

Table of Contents

Preface	9	(2)
Acknowledgments	11	(6)
PART 1. THE ONTOLOGY OF A- AND B-THEORIES OF TIME
The Problem of Time and Change	17	(20)
Is There a Difference between the Metaphysics of A- and B-Time?	37	(14)
McTaggart's Paradox Defended	51	(16)
PART 2. A CRITIQUE OF A-THEORIES OF TIME
Presentism
A Note on Chisholm on Tense	67	(4)
Bigelow, Possible Worlds, and the Passage of Time	71	(6)
Craig on McTaggart's Paradox and the Problem of Temporary Intrinsics	77	(6)
Presentism, Ontology, and Temporal Experience	83	(18)
Presentism: A Critique	101	(16)
Dainton's Time and Space	117	(6)
The Open Future Theory
Zeilicovici on Temporal Becoming	123	(6)
Yourgrau's The Disappearance of Time	129	(6)
Tooley's Time, Tense, and Causation	135	(10)
The A/B Theory
McTaggart, Schlesinger, and the Two-Dimensional Time Hypothesis	145	(8)
McTaggart's Paradox and Smith's Tensed Theory of Time	153	(22)
PART 3. A DEFENSE OF THE B-THEORY OF TIME
Temporal Reality and Experience
Mellor's Real Time	175	(8)
The Russellian Theory of Time	183	(24)
Time and Becoming	207	(4)
Thank Goodness It's Over	211	(4)
On Our Experience of Ceasing to Exist	215	(6)
Jokic on the Tensed Existence of Nature	221	(6)
On the Experience of Tenseless Time	227	(8)
Craig on the Experience of Tense	235	(10)
Temporal Semantics
The New Tenseless Theory of Time	245	(6)
A Defense of the New Tenseless Theory of Time	251	(14)
Two Versions of the New B-Theory of Language	265	(30)
PART 4. TIME, IDENTITY, RESPONSIBILITY, AND FREEDOM
Delmas Lewis on Persons and Responsibility: A Critique	295	(8)
Temporal Passage and Temporal Parts	303	(6)
Personal Identity, Responsibility, and Time	309	(22)
Time and Foreknowledge: A Critique of Zagzebski	331	(4)
Freedom and the New Theory of Time	335	(22)
Index of Names	357	(4)
Index of Subjects	361