Single Idea 8167

[catalogued under 27. Natural Reality / D. Time / 1. Nature of Time / h. Presentism]

Full Idea

If Presentism is correct - the doctrine that there is nothing at all, save what holds good at the present moment - then we cannot even say that the present changes, because that requires that things are not now as they were some time ago.

Gist of Idea

If Presentism is correct, we cannot even say that the present changes

Source

Michael Dummett (Thought and Reality [1997], 2)

Book Reference

Dummett,Michael: 'Thought and Reality (Gifford Lectures)' [OUP 2006], p.18


A Reaction

Presumably we can compare our present memory with our present experience. See Idea 6668. The logic (very ancient!) is that the present has not duration at all, and so no experiences can occur during it.

Related Idea

Idea 6668 If the present does not exist, then consciousness must be memory of the immediate past [Marshall]