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Single Idea 15205

[filed under theme 27. Natural Reality / D. Time / 2. Passage of Time / e. Tensed (A) series ]

Full Idea

Tensed theorists typically seek to reduce facts about tenseless relations to tensed facts.

Gist of Idea

Tensed theorists typically try to reduce the tenseless to the tensed

Source

Robin Le Poidevin (Past, Present and Future of Debate about Tense [1998], 4 (b))

Book Ref

'Questions of Time and Tense', ed/tr. Le Poidevin,R [OUP 2002], p.33


A Reaction

This presumably involves denial of tenseless truths like '2+2=4', which might become '2+2 is always 4'. I can't see an objection to that. Tooley 1997 is cited as an exception to this idea.


The 12 ideas with the same theme [A-series, with the present as a distinctive moment]:

The present moment is obviously a necessary feature of time [Aristotle]
The Hopi have no concept of time as something flowing from past to future [Whorf]
'Thank goodness that's over' is not like 'thank goodness that happened on Friday' [Prior,AN]
The past, present, future and tenses of A-theory are too weird, and should be analysed indexically [Smart]
It is claimed that the tense view entails the unreality of both future and past [Le Poidevin]
We share a common now, but not a common here [Le Poidevin]
Tensed theorists typically try to reduce the tenseless to the tensed [Le Poidevin]
There is one ordered B series, but an infinitude of A series, depending on when the present is [Maudlin]
A-theorists, unlike B-theorists, believe some sort of objective distinction between past, present and future [Zimmerman,DW]
Time flows, past is fixed, future is open, future is feared but not past, we remember past, we plan future [Bourne]
The A-series says a past event is becoming more past, but how can it do that? [Bardon]
The A-series has to treat being past, present or future as properties [Baron/Miller]