Noûs 53 (4):963-986 (2019)
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Abstract |
Actualism is the view that only actually existing things exist. Presentism is the view that only presently existing things exist. In this paper, I argue that being an actualist without also being a presentist is not as easy as many philosophers seem to think. A common objection to presentism is that there is an unavoidable conflict between presentism and relativity theory. But actualists who do not wish to be presentists cannot point to this relativity objection alone to support their position. Unless they have some antecedent reason for thinking that actualism is more plausible than presentism, anyone who is moved by the relativity objection to give up presentism should be moved by a related objection to give up actualism as well. If there is a reason to be an actualist without also being a presentist, it must go beyond the relativity objection to presentism.
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Keywords | presentism actualism relativity |
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DOI | 10.1111/nous.12247 |
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References found in this work BETA
Four Dimensionalism: An Ontology of Persistence and Time.Theodore Sider - 2004 - Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 68 (3):642-647.
On the Plurality of Worlds.Allen Stairs - 1988 - Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 49 (2):333-352.
View all 22 references / Add more references
Citations of this work BETA
The Dynamic Theory of Time and Time Travel to the Past.Ned Markosian - 2020 - Disputatio 12 (57):137-165.
Temporal Ersatzism and Relativity.Nina Emery - 2021 - Australasian Journal of Philosophy 99 (3):490-503.
Meaning in Life and the Nature of Time.Ned Markosian - forthcoming - In The Oxford Handbook of Meaning in Life. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
View all 6 citations / Add more citations
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