back to ideas for this text


Single Idea 14723

[from 'Four Dimensionalism' by Theodore Sider, in 27. Natural Reality / D. Time / 2. Passage of Time / c. Tenses and time ]

Full Idea

The temporal reductionist claims that tensed locutions are indexical - 'present' being the time of utterance etc. This generalises to say that nothing corresponding to tense need be admitted as a fundamental feature of the world.

Gist of Idea

Talk using tenses can be eliminated, by reducing it to indexical connections for an utterance

Source

Theodore Sider (Four Dimensionalism [2001], 2.1)

Book Reference

Sider,Theodore: 'Four Dimensionalism' [OUP 2003], p.13


A Reaction

[He particular cites Mellor for this view] Highly implausible. I very much doubt whether it is possible to explain the indexicality of a word like 'now' without referring to tenses. Does time only exist when sentences and thoughts occur?