PHIL 325 Study Guide - B-Theory Of Time, Circular Definition, Special Relativity
Document Summary
What parts of time exist: this rests upon our definition of a part of time" and our definition of existence". Later we will examine the way in which answers to this question depend upon ontology: two intuitions motivate responses to this question: It seems like there is an important difference between the present and the past or future. The present is more tangible, knowable, accessible, etc. Presentism explains this difference by claiming that the present exists and that the past/future are not. Moving eternalism attempts to accommodate this intuition by claiming that although all times are real, there is still an important objective difference between the present and the past/future. It seems like there are objective and knowable truths about the past, and that the past has the ability to influence the present or future. Eternalism explains this by claiming that the past exists; presentism by claiming that it.
