The Tensed Theory of Time A Critical Examination
he present book and its companion volume The Tenseless Theory of Time: a T Critical Examination are an attempt to adjudicate what one recent discussant has called "the most fundamental question in the philosophy of time," namely, "whether a static or a dy
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SYNTHESE LIBRARY STUDIES IN EPISTEMOLOGY, LOGIC, METHODOLOGY, AND PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE
Managing Editor:
JAAKKO HINTIKKA, Boston University Editors: DIRK VAN DALEN, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands DONALD DAVIDSON, University of California, Berkeley THEa A.F. KUIPERS, University of Groningen, The Netherlands PATRICK SUPPES, Stanford University, California JAN waLEN-sKI, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland
VOLUME 293
THE TENSED THEORY
OF TIME A Critical Examination by
WILLIAM LANE CRAIG Talbot School of Theology, Marietta, GA, U.S.A.
SPRINGER-SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, B.V.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Craig, William Lane. The tensed theory of time : a critical examination / by William Lane Craig. p. cm. -- (Synthese library; v. 293) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-90-481-5585-9 ISBN 978-94-015-9345-8 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-94-015-9345-8 1. Time--Philosophy. I. Title. II. Series. BD638 .C73 2000 115--dc21
00-064723
ISBN 978-90-481-5585-9
Printed on acid-free paper
All Rights Reserved © 2000 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht Originally published by Kluwer Academic Publishers in 2000 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2000 No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the copyright owner.
To ALVIN PLANTINGA who by his work and his life has pointed the way
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface
1X
PART I. ARGUMENTS FORAN A-THEORY OF TIME Section 1: The 1neliminability of Tense
Chapter 1
Introduction: Language, Tense, and Ontology
Chapter 2
The Old B-Theory of Language
23
Chapter 3
The New B-Theory of Language
66
Chapter 4
The B-Theory and Theories of Direct Reference
97
3
Section 2: The Experience of Tense
Chapter 5
Our Experience of Tense
131
PART II. ARGUMENTS AGAINST AN A-THEORY OF TIME Chapter 6
McTaggart's Paradox
169
Chapter 7
The Myth of Temporal Passage
218
Bibliography
259
Subject Index
279
Proper Name Index
283
vii
PREFACE
T
he present book and its companion volume The Tenseless Theory of Time: a Critical Examination are an attempt to adjudicate what one recent discussant has called "the most fundamental question in the philosophy of time," namely, "whether a static or a dynamic conception of the world is correct."! I had originally intended to treat this question in the space of a single volume; but the study swelled into two. I found that an adequate appraisal of these two competing theories of time requires a wide-ranging discussion of issues in metaphysics, philosophy of language, phenomenology, philosophy of science, philosophy of space and time, and even philosophy of religion, and that this simply could not be done in one volume. If these volumes succeed in making a contribution to the debate, it will be precisely because of the synoptic nature of the discussion therein. Too o
