Combining Philosophers

All the ideas for Agrippa, Adrian Bardon and J.P. Moreland

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54 ideas

2. Reason / A. Nature of Reason / 9. Limits of Reason
All reasoning endlessly leads to further reasoning (Mode 12) [Agrippa, by Diog. Laertius]
     Full Idea: Twelfth mode: all reasoning leads on to further reasoning, and this process goes on forever.
     From: report of Agrippa (fragments/reports [c.60]) by Diogenes Laertius - Lives of Eminent Philosophers 09.Py.10
Proofs often presuppose the thing to be proved (Mode 15) [Agrippa, by Diog. Laertius]
     Full Idea: Fifteenth mode: proofs often presuppose the thing to be proved.
     From: report of Agrippa (fragments/reports [c.60]) by Diogenes Laertius - Lives of Eminent Philosophers 09.Py.10
Reasoning needs arbitrary faith in preliminary hypotheses (Mode 14) [Agrippa, by Diog. Laertius]
     Full Idea: Fourteenth mode: reasoning requires arbitrary faith in preliminary hypotheses.
     From: report of Agrippa (fragments/reports [c.60]) by Diogenes Laertius - Lives of Eminent Philosophers 09.Py.10
All discussion is full of uncertainty and contradiction (Mode 11) [Agrippa, by Diog. Laertius]
     Full Idea: Eleventh mode: all topics of discussion are full of uncertainty and contradiction.
     From: report of Agrippa (fragments/reports [c.60]) by Diogenes Laertius - Lives of Eminent Philosophers 09.Py.10
2. Reason / B. Laws of Thought / 6. Ockham's Razor
Epistemological Ockham's Razor demands good reasons, but the ontological version says reality is simple [Moreland]
     Full Idea: Ockham's Razor has an epistemological version, which says we should not multiply existences or explanations without adequate reason, and an ontological version, which says reality is simple, and so a simpler ontology represents it more accurately.
     From: J.P. Moreland (Universals [2001], Ch.2)
     A reaction: A nice distinction. Is it reality which is simple, or us? One shouldn't write off the ontological version. If one explanation is simpler than the others, there may be a reason in nature for that.
6. Mathematics / A. Nature of Mathematics / 5. The Infinite / l. Limits
The modern idea of 'limit' allows infinite quantities to have a finite sum [Bardon]
     Full Idea: The concept of a 'limit' allows for an infinite number of finite quantities to add up to a finite sum.
     From: Adrian Bardon (Brief History of the Philosophy of Time [2013], 1 'Aristotle's')
     A reaction: This is only if the terms 'converge' on some end point. Limits are convenient fictions.
7. Existence / A. Nature of Existence / 3. Being / e. Being and nothing
An equally good question would be why there was nothing instead of something [Bardon]
     Full Idea: If there were nothing, then wouldn't it be just as good a question to ask why there is nothing rather than something? There are many ways for there to be something, but only one way for there to be nothing.
     From: Adrian Bardon (Brief History of the Philosophy of Time [2013], 8 'Confronting')
     A reaction: [He credits Nozick with the question] I'm not sure whether there being nothing counts as a 'way' of being. If something exists it seems to need a cause, but no cause seems required for the absence of things. Nice, though.
7. Existence / D. Theories of Reality / 1. Ontologies
Existence theories must match experience, possibility, logic and knowledge, and not be self-defeating [Moreland]
     Full Idea: A theory of existence should 1) be consistent with what actually exists, 2) be consistent with what could exist, 3) not make existence impossible (e.g. in space-time), 4) not violate logic, 5) make knowing the theory possible.
     From: J.P. Moreland (Universals [2001], Ch.6)
     A reaction: A nice bit of metaphilosophical analysis. I still doubt whether a theory of existence is possible (something has to be 'given' a priori), but this is a good place to start the attempt.
8. Modes of Existence / B. Properties / 13. Tropes / a. Nature of tropes
Tropes are like Hume's 'impressions', conceived as real rather than as ideal [Moreland]
     Full Idea: Tropes are (says Campbell) substances (in Hume's sense), and indeed resemble his impressions conceived realistically rather than idealistically.
     From: J.P. Moreland (Universals [2001], Ch.3)
     A reaction: An interesting link. It doesn't get rid of the problem Hume has, of saying when two impressions are the same. Are they types or tokens? Trope-theory claims they are tokens. Hume's ontology includes 'resemblance'.
8. Modes of Existence / B. Properties / 13. Tropes / b. Critique of tropes
A colour-trope cannot be simple (as required), because it is spread in space, and so it is complex [Moreland]
     Full Idea: A property-instance must be spread out in space, or it is not clear how a colour nature can be present, but then it has to be a complex entity, and tropes are supposed to be simple entities.
     From: J.P. Moreland (Universals [2001], Ch.3)
     A reaction: Seems a fair point. Nothing else in reality can be sharply distinguished, so why should 'simple' and 'complex'?
In 'four colours were used in the decoration', colours appear to be universals, not tropes [Moreland]
     Full Idea: If a decorator says that they used four colours to decorate a house, four tropes is not what was meant, and the statement seems to view colours as universals.
     From: J.P. Moreland (Universals [2001], Ch.3)
     A reaction: Although I am suspicious of using language to deduce ontology, you have to explain why certain statements (like this) are even possible to make.
8. Modes of Existence / D. Universals / 1. Universals
If properties are universals, what distinguishes two things which have identical properties? [Moreland]
     Full Idea: If properties are universals, what account can be given of the individuation of two entities that have all their pure properties in common?
     From: J.P. Moreland (Universals [2001], Ch.1)
     A reaction: Is this a big problem? Maybe only a space-time location can do it. Or, in the nice case where the universe is just two identical spheres, it may be impossible.
One realism is one-over-many, which may be the model/copy view, which has the Third Man problem [Moreland]
     Full Idea: One version of realism says that the universal does not enter into the being of its instances, and thus is a One-Over-Many. One version of this is the model/copy view, but this is not widely held, because of difficulties such as the Third Man Argument.
     From: J.P. Moreland (Universals [2001], Ch.1)
     A reaction: This presumably arises if the model is held to have the properties of the copy (self-predication), and looks like a bad theory
Realists see properties as universals, which are single abstract entities which are multiply exemplifiable [Moreland]
     Full Idea: Traditional realism is the view that a property is a universal construed as a multiply exemplifiable abstract entity that is a numerically identical constituent in each of its instances.
     From: J.P. Moreland (Universals [2001], Ch.4)
     A reaction: Put like that, it seems hard to commit oneself fully to realism. How can two red buses contain one abstract object spread out between them. Common sense says there are two 'rednesses' which resemble one another, which is a version of nominalism.
8. Modes of Existence / D. Universals / 2. Need for Universals
Evidence for universals can be found in language, communication, natural laws, classification and ideals [Moreland]
     Full Idea: Those who believe in universals appeal to the meaningfulness of language, the lawlike nature of causation, the inter-subjectivity of thinking, our ability to classify new entities, gradation, and the need for perfect standards or paradigms.
     From: J.P. Moreland (Universals [2001], Ch.1)
     A reaction: Of these, language and communication ought to be explicable by convention, but classification and natural laws look to me like the best evidence.
The traditional problem of universals centres on the "One over Many", which is the unity of natural classes [Moreland]
     Full Idea: Historically the problem of universals has mainly been about the "One over Many", which involves giving an account of the unity of natural classes.
     From: J.P. Moreland (Universals [2001], Ch.1)
     A reaction: This still strikes me as the main problem (rather than issues of language). If universals are not natural, they must be analysed as properties, which break down into causation, which is seen as a human convention.
8. Modes of Existence / D. Universals / 3. Instantiated Universals
The One-In-Many view says universals have abstract existence, but exist in particulars [Moreland]
     Full Idea: Another version of realism says is One-In-Many, where the universal is not another particular, but is literally in the instances. The universal is an abstract entity, in the instances by means of a primitive non-spatiotemporal tie of predication.
     From: J.P. Moreland (Universals [2001], Ch.1)
     A reaction: This sounds like Aristotle (and is Loux's view of properties and relations). If they are abstract, why must they be confined to particulars?
8. Modes of Existence / D. Universals / 4. Uninstantiated Universals
How could 'being even', or 'being a father', or a musical interval, exist naturally in space? [Moreland]
     Full Idea: Many properties (being even) and relations (musical intervals, being a father) are such that it is not clear what it would mean to take them as natural things existing in space.
     From: J.P. Moreland (Universals [2001], Ch.4)
     A reaction: 'Being even' certainly seems to be a property, and it is a struggle to see how it could exist in space, unless it is a set of actual or potential brain states.
Maybe universals are real, if properties themselves have properties, and relate to other properties [Moreland]
     Full Idea: Realism about universals is supported by the phenomenon of abstract reference - that is the fact that properties themselves have properties ('red is a colour'), and stand in relation to other properties ('red is more like orange than like blue').
     From: J.P. Moreland (Universals [2001], Ch.1)
     A reaction: While a property may be an obviously natural feature, properties of properties seem more likely to be the produce of human perception and convention. It is a good argument, though.
A naturalist and realist about universals is forced to say redness can be both moving and stationary [Moreland]
     Full Idea: If a property is held to be at the location of the particular, then if there are two objects having the same property, and one object is stationary and the other is moving, the realist is forced to say that the universal is both moving and at rest.
     From: J.P. Moreland (Universals [2001], Ch.4)
     A reaction: The target of this comment is D.M.Armstrong. The example nicely illustrates the problem of trying to combine science and metaphysics. It pushes you back to Platonism, but that seems wrong too…
There are spatial facts about red particulars, but not about redness itself [Moreland]
     Full Idea: When one attends to something existing in space, one attends to an instance of redness, not to redness itself (which is a colour, which resembles orange). The facts about red itself are not spatial facts, but are traditionally seen as a priori synthetic.
     From: J.P. Moreland (Universals [2001], Ch.4)
     A reaction: This is the fact that properties can themselves have properties (and so on?), which seems to take us further and further from the natural world.
8. Modes of Existence / D. Universals / 6. Platonic Forms / a. Platonic Forms
Redness is independent of red things, can do without them, has its own properties, and has identity [Moreland]
     Full Idea: Four arguments for Platonism: 1) there are truths about redness (it's a colour) even if nothing red exists, 2) redness does not depend on particulars, 3) most universals are at some time not exemplified, 4) universals satisfy the criteria of existence.
     From: J.P. Moreland (Universals [2001], Ch.6)
     A reaction: This adds up to quite a good case, particularly the point that things can be said about redness which are independent of any particular, but the relationships between concepts and the brain seems at the heart of the problem.
8. Modes of Existence / E. Nominalism / 1. Nominalism / a. Nominalism
Moderate nominalism attempts to embrace the existence of properties while avoiding universals [Moreland]
     Full Idea: Moderate nominalism attempts to embrace the existence of properties while avoiding universals.
     From: J.P. Moreland (Universals [2001], Ch.2)
     A reaction: Clearly there is going to be quite a struggle to make sense of 'exists' here (Russell tries 'subsists). Presumably each property must be a particular?
8. Modes of Existence / E. Nominalism / 2. Resemblance Nominalism
Unlike Class Nominalism, Resemblance Nominalism can distinguish natural from unnatural classes [Moreland]
     Full Idea: Resemblance Nominalism is clearly superior to Class Nominalism, since the former offers a clear ground for distinguishing between natural and unnatural classes.
     From: J.P. Moreland (Universals [2001], Ch.2)
     A reaction: Important. It seems evident to me that there are natural classes, and the only ground for this claim would be either the resemblance or the identity of properties.
8. Modes of Existence / E. Nominalism / 3. Predicate Nominalism
There can be predicates with no property, and there are properties with no predicate [Moreland]
     Full Idea: Linguistic predicates are neither sufficient nor necessary for specifying a property. Predicates can be contrived which express no property, properties are far more numerous than linguistic predicates, and properties are what make predicates apply.
     From: J.P. Moreland (Universals [2001], Ch.2)
     A reaction: This seems to me conclusive, and is a crucial argument against anyone who thinks that our metaphysics can simply be inferred from our language.
8. Modes of Existence / E. Nominalism / 5. Class Nominalism
We should abandon the concept of a property since (unlike sets) their identity conditions are unclear [Moreland]
     Full Idea: Some argue that compared to sets, the identity conditions for properties are obscure, and so properties, including realist depictions of them, should be rejected.
     From: J.P. Moreland (Universals [2001], Ch.6)
     A reaction: I have never thought that difficulty in precisely identifying something was a good reason for denying its existence. Consider low morale in a work force. 2nd thoughts: I like this!
9. Objects / F. Identity among Objects / 7. Indiscernible Objects
Most philosophers think that the identity of indiscernibles is false [Moreland]
     Full Idea: Most philosophers think that the identity of indiscernibles is false.
     From: J.P. Moreland (Universals [2001], Ch.7)
     A reaction: This is as opposed to the generally accepted 'indiscernibility of identicals'. 'Discernment' is an epistemological concept, and 'identity' is an ontological concept.
13. Knowledge Criteria / A. Justification Problems / 2. Justification Challenges / a. Agrippa's trilemma
Agrippa's Trilemma: justification is infinite, or ends arbitrarily, or is circular [Agrippa, by Williams,M]
     Full Idea: Agrippa's Trilemma offers three possible outcomes for a regress of justification: the chain goes on for ever (infinite); or the chain stops at an unjustified proposition (arbitrary); or the chain eventually includes the original proposition (circular).
     From: report of Agrippa (fragments/reports [c.60], §2) by Michael Williams - Without Immediate Justification §2
     A reaction: This summarises Ideas 1911, 1913 and 1914. Agrippa's Trilemma is now a standard starting point for modern discussions of foundations. Personally I reject 2, and am torn between 1 (+ social consensus) and 3 (with a benign, coherent circle).
13. Knowledge Criteria / E. Relativism / 1. Relativism
Everything is perceived in relation to another thing (Mode 13) [Agrippa, by Diog. Laertius]
     Full Idea: Thirteenth mode: everything is always perceived in relation to something else.
     From: report of Agrippa (fragments/reports [c.60]) by Diogenes Laertius - Lives of Eminent Philosophers 09.Py.10
15. Nature of Minds / C. Capacities of Minds / 3. Abstraction by mind
Abstractions are formed by the mind when it concentrates on some, but not all, the features of a thing [Moreland]
     Full Idea: If something is 'abstract' it is got before the mind by an act of abstraction, that is, by concentrating attention on some (but not all) of what is presented.
     From: J.P. Moreland (Universals [2001], Ch.3)
     A reaction: Presumably it usually involves picking out the behavioural or causal features, and leaving out the physical features - though I suppose it works for physical properties too…
18. Thought / D. Concepts / 4. Structure of Concepts / b. Analysis of concepts
It is always open to a philosopher to claim that some entity or other is unanalysable [Moreland]
     Full Idea: It is always open to a philosopher to claim that some entity or other is unanalysable.
     From: J.P. Moreland (Universals [2001], Ch.2)
     A reaction: For example, Davidson on truth. There is an onus to demonstrate why all attempted analyses fail.
26. Natural Theory / C. Causation / 9. General Causation / c. Counterfactual causation
Why does an effect require a prior event if the prior event isn't a cause? [Bardon]
     Full Idea: To say that a reaction requires the earlier presence of an action just raises anew the question of why it is 'required' if it isn't bring about the reaction.
     From: Adrian Bardon (Brief History of the Philosophy of Time [2013], 4 'Pervasive')
     A reaction: This is another example of my demand that empiricists don't just describe and report conjunctions and patterns, but make some effort to explain them.
27. Natural Reality / A. Classical Physics / 2. Thermodynamics / d. Entropy
Becoming disordered is much easier for a system than becoming ordered [Bardon]
     Full Idea: Systems move to a higher state of entropy …because there are very many more ways for a system to be disordered than for it to be ordered. …We can also say that they tend to move from a non-equilibrium state to an equilibrium state.
     From: Adrian Bardon (Brief History of the Philosophy of Time [2013], 5 'Thermodynamic')
     A reaction: Is it actually about order, or is it just that energy radiates, and thus disperses?
27. Natural Reality / C. Space / 6. Space-Time
The universe expands, so space-time is enlarging [Bardon]
     Full Idea: More and more space-time is literally being created from nothing all the time as the universe expands.
     From: Adrian Bardon (Brief History of the Philosophy of Time [2013], 8 'Realism')
     A reaction: [He cites Paul Davies for this] Is the universe acquiring more space, or is the given space being stretched? Acquiring more time makes no sense, so what is more space-time?
27. Natural Reality / D. Time / 1. Nature of Time / c. Idealist time
We should treat time as adverbial, so we don't experience time, we experience things temporally [Bardon, by Bardon]
     Full Idea: Kant says that instead of focusing on the nouns 'time' and 'space', it would be more on target to focus on the adverbial applications of the concepts - that we don't experience things in time and space so much as experience them temporally and spatially.
     From: report of Adrian Bardon (Brief History of the Philosophy of Time [2013]) by Adrian Bardon - Brief History of the Philosophy of Time 2 'Kantian'
     A reaction: Put like that, Kant's approach has some plausibility, given that we don't actually experience space and time as entities. To jump from that to idealism seems daft. Does every adverb imply idealism about what it specifies?
27. Natural Reality / D. Time / 1. Nature of Time / h. Presentism
'Presentism' is the view that only the present moment exists [Moreland]
     Full Idea: 'Presentism' is the view that only the present moment exists.
     From: J.P. Moreland (Universals [2001], Ch.6)
     A reaction: And Greek scepticism doubted even the present, since there is no space between past and future. It is a delightfully vertigo-inducing idea.
27. Natural Reality / D. Time / 1. Nature of Time / i. Denying time
How can we question the passage of time, if the question takes time to ask? [Bardon]
     Full Idea: Even questioning the passage of time may be self-defeating: can any question be meaningfully asked or understood without presuming the passage of time from the inception of the question to its conclusion?
     From: Adrian Bardon (Brief History of the Philosophy of Time [2013], 4 'Pervasive')
     A reaction: [He cites P.J. Zwart for this] We can at least, in B-series style, specify the starting and finishing times of the question, without talk of its passage. Nice point, though.
27. Natural Reality / D. Time / 2. Passage of Time / b. Rate of time
What is time's passage relative to, and how fast does it pass? [Bardon]
     Full Idea: If time is passing, then relative to what? How could time pass with respect to itself? Further, if time passes, at what rate does it pass?
     From: Adrian Bardon (Brief History of the Philosophy of Time [2013], 4 'Pervasive')
     A reaction: I remember some writer grasping the nettle, and saying that time passes at one second per second. Compare travelling at one metre per metre.
27. Natural Reality / D. Time / 2. Passage of Time / e. Tensed (A) series
The A-series says a past event is becoming more past, but how can it do that? [Bardon]
     Full Idea: In the dynamic theory of time the Battle of Waterloo is become more past. If we insist on the A-series properties, this seems inevitable. But how can a past event be changing now?
     From: Adrian Bardon (Brief History of the Philosophy of Time [2013], 4 'Reasons')
     A reaction: [He cites Ulrich Meyer for this] We don't worry about an object changing its position when it is swept down a river. The location of the Battle of Waterloo relative to 'now' is not a property of the battle. That is a 'Cambridge' property.
27. Natural Reality / D. Time / 2. Passage of Time / f. Tenseless (B) series
The B-series needs a revised view of causes, laws and explanations [Bardon]
     Full Idea: If we accept the static (B-series) view, we have to reevaluate how we think about causation, natural laws, and scientific explanation.
     From: Adrian Bardon (Brief History of the Philosophy of Time [2013], 4 'Pervasive')
     A reaction: Any scientific account which refers to events seems to imply a dynamic view of time. Lots of scientists and philosophers endorse the static view of time, but then fail to pursue its implications.
The B-series is realist about time, but idealist about its passage [Bardon]
     Full Idea: The B-series theorist is a realist about time but an idealist about the passage of time. This is the Static Theory of time.
     From: Adrian Bardon (Brief History of the Philosophy of Time [2013], 4 'Reasons')
     A reaction: Note the both A and B are realists about time, and thus deny both the relationist and the idealist view.
The B-series adds directionality when it accepts 'earlier' and 'later' [Bardon]
     Full Idea: The static (B-series) theory, by embracing the relational temporal properties 'earlier' and 'later', adds a directional ordering to the block of events.
     From: Adrian Bardon (Brief History of the Philosophy of Time [2013], 5 'Time's')
     A reaction: I'm not clear whether this addition to the B-series picture is optional or obligatory. It is important that it seems to be a bolt-on feature, not immediately implied by the timeless series. What would Einstein say?
27. Natural Reality / D. Time / 2. Passage of Time / g. Time's arrow
To define time's arrow by causation, we need a timeless definition of causation [Bardon]
     Full Idea: The problem for the causal analysis of temporal asymmetry is to come up with a definition of causation that does not itself rely on the concept of temporal asymmetry.
     From: Adrian Bardon (Brief History of the Philosophy of Time [2013], 5 'Causal')
     A reaction: This is the point at which my soul cries out 'time is a primitive concept!' Leibniz want to use dependency to define time's arrow, but how do you specify dependency if you don't know which one came first?
We judge memories to be of the past because the events cause the memories [Bardon]
     Full Idea: On the causal view of time's arrow, memories pertain to the 'past' just because they are caused by the events of which they are memories.
     From: Adrian Bardon (Brief History of the Philosophy of Time [2013], 5 'Causal')
     A reaction: How am I able to distinguish imagining the future from remembering the past? How do I tell which mental events have external causes, and which are generated by me?
The psychological arrow of time is the direction from our memories to our anticipations [Bardon]
     Full Idea: The psychological arrow of time refers to the familiar fact that that we remember (and never anticipate) the past, and anticipate (but never remember) the future.
     From: Adrian Bardon (Brief History of the Philosophy of Time [2013], 5 'Psychological')
     A reaction: Bardon rejects this on the grounds that the psychology is obviously the result of the actual order of events. Otherwise time's arrow would just result from the luck of how we individually experience things.
The direction of entropy is probabilistic, not necessary, so cannot be identical to time's arrow [Bardon]
     Full Idea: The coincidence of thermodynamic direction and the direction of time is striking, but they can't be one and the same because the thermodynamic law is merely probabilistic. Orderliness could increase, but it is highly improbable
     From: Adrian Bardon (Brief History of the Philosophy of Time [2013], 5 'Thermodynamic')
     A reaction: This seems to be persuasive grounds for rejecting thermodynamics as the explanation of time's arrow.
It is arbitrary to reverse time in a more orderly universe, but not in a sub-system of it [Bardon]
     Full Idea: It would seem arbitrary to say that the direction of time is reversed if the whole universe becomes more orderly, but it isn't reversed for any particular sub-system that becomes more orderly.
     From: Adrian Bardon (Brief History of the Philosophy of Time [2013], 5 'Thermodynamic')
     A reaction: The thought is that if time's arrow depends on entropy, then the arrow must reverse if entropy were to reverse (however unlikely).
27. Natural Reality / D. Time / 2. Passage of Time / h. Change in time
It seems hard to understand change without understanding time first [Bardon]
     Full Idea: It is very tough to see how we could understand what change is without understanding what time is.
     From: Adrian Bardon (Brief History of the Philosophy of Time [2013], Intro)
     A reaction: This thought is aimed at those who are hoping to define time in terms of change. My working assumption is that time must be a primitive concept in any metaphysics.
We experience static states (while walking round a house) and observe change (ship leaving dock) [Bardon]
     Full Idea: We make a fundamental distinction between perceptions of static states and dynamic processes, …such as walking around a house, and watching a ship leave dock.
     From: Adrian Bardon (Brief History of the Philosophy of Time [2013], 2 'Kantian')
     A reaction: This seems to be a fundamental aspect of our mind, rather than of the raw experience (slightly supporting Kant). In both cases we experience a changing sequence, but we have two different interpretations of them.
27. Natural Reality / D. Time / 2. Passage of Time / i. Time and motion
The motion of a thing should be a fact in the present moment [Bardon]
     Full Idea: Whether or not something is in motion should be a fact about that thing now, not a fact about the thing in its past or in its future.
     From: Adrian Bardon (Brief History of the Philosophy of Time [2013], 1 'Arrow')
     A reaction: This is one of the present moment, in which nothing can occur if its magnitude is infinitely small. I have no solution to this problem.
Experiences of motion may be overlapping, thus stretching out the experience [Bardon]
     Full Idea: Experience itself may be constituted by overlapping, very brief, but temporally extended, acts of awareness, each of which encompassesa temporally extended streeeeetch of perceived events.
     From: Adrian Bardon (Brief History of the Philosophy of Time [2013], 2 'Realism')
     A reaction: [cites Barry Dainton 2000] I think this sounds better than Russell's suggestion, though along the same lines. I take all brain events to be a sort of memory, briefly retaining their experience. Very fast events blur because of overload.
27. Natural Reality / D. Time / 2. Passage of Time / j. Time travel
At least eternal time gives time travellers a possible destination [Bardon]
     Full Idea: If all past, present and future events timelessly coexist, then at least there is a potential destination for the time traveller. …The Presentist treats past and future events as nonexistent, so there is no place for the time traveller to go.
     From: Adrian Bardon (Brief History of the Philosophy of Time [2013], 6 'Fictional')
     A reaction: Not a good reason to believe in the eternal block of time, of course. The growing block has a past which can be visited, but no future.
Time travel is not a paradox if we include it in the eternal continuum of events [Bardon]
     Full Idea: As long as we understand any time travel events to be timelessly included in the history of the world, and thus as part of the fixed continuum of events, time travel need not give rise to paradox.
     From: Adrian Bardon (Brief History of the Philosophy of Time [2013], 6 'Time travel')
     A reaction: This would presumably block going back and killing your own grandparent.
27. Natural Reality / D. Time / 3. Parts of Time / d. Measuring time
We use calendars for the order of events, and clocks for their passing [Bardon]
     Full Idea: Roughly speaking, we use calendars to track the order of events in time, and clocks to track changes and the passing of events.
     From: Adrian Bardon (Brief History of the Philosophy of Time [2013], Intro)
     A reaction: So calendars cover the B-Series and clocks the A-Series, showing that this distinction is deeply embedded, and wasn't invented by McTaggart.