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