more on this theme     |     more from this thinker

Single Idea 13994

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

Full Idea

It is very natural to talk about times, ...but Presentism seems to entail that we never say anything about any such times.

Gist of Idea

Presentism seems to entail that we cannot talk about other times

Source

Ned Markosian (A Defense of Presentism [2004], 2.4)

Book Ref

'Persistence: contemporary readings', ed/tr. Haslanger,S/|Kurtz,RM [MIT 2006], p.309

A Reaction

I'm beginning to think that Markosian is in the grips of a false notion of proposition, as something that exists independently of thinkers, and is entailed by the facts and objects of reality. This is not what language does.

The 13 ideas from 'A Defense of Presentism'

13990 Presentism is the view that only present objects exist [Markosian]
13991 Presentism has the problem that if Socrates ceases to exist, so do propositions about him [Markosian]
13992 Presentism says if objects don't exist now, we can't have attitudes to them or relations with them [Markosian]
13994 Presentism seems to entail that we cannot talk about other times [Markosian]
13995 Serious Presentism says things must exist to have relations and properties; Unrestricted version denies this [Markosian]
14002 Possible worlds must be abstract, because two qualitatively identical worlds are just one world [Markosian]
13996 Maybe Presentists can refer to the haecceity of a thing, after the thing itself disappears [Markosian]
13997 Maybe Presentists can paraphrase singular propositions about the past [Markosian]
13998 Objects in the past, like Socrates, are more like imaginary objects than like remote spatial objects [Markosian]
13999 People are mistaken when they think 'Socrates was a philosopher' says something [Markosian]
14000 'Grabby' truth conditions first select their object, unlike 'searchy' truth conditions [Markosian]
13993 Special Relativity denies the absolute present which Presentism needs [Markosian]
14001 People who use science to make philosophical points don't realise how philosophical science is [Markosian]