Questions of Time and Tense

Questions of Time and Tense aims to develop and broaden a central debate in contemporary metaphysics. This debate focuses on questions about the nature of time: does time really pass? That is, do events become present and then recede into the past? Or is our ordinary conception of time, as consisting of an ever-shifting past, present, and future, merely reflective of our perspective on the world? The editor gives an introductory guide to the debate, outlining the development of rival theories. Then an international line-up of authors contribute eleven essays, all but one specially written for this volume, which demonstrate that these questions are intimately connected with issues in other areas of philosophy. The discussion moves through metaphysics, philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, philosophy of science, philosophy of religion, ethics, and aesthetics.Table of ContentIntroduction; 1. The Past, Present, and Future of the Debate about Tense; 2. Tense and Persistence; 3. Seeing the Present; 4. Tense and Emotion; 5. Real Times and Possible Worlds; 6. Time as Spacetime; 7. Absolute Simultaneity and the Infinity of Time; 8. Freedom and the New Theory of Time; 9. Morality, the Unborn, and the Open Future; 10. The Tensed vs. Tenseless Theory of Time: A Watershed for the Conception of Divine Eternity; 11. Time and Trinity; Tense and Egocentricity in Fiction; Notes on the Contributors; Bibliography; Index