Michael Tooley presents a major new philosophical study of time and
its relation to causation. The nature of time has always been one of
the most fascinating and perplexing problems of philosophy. In recent
years it has become the focus of vigorous debate between advocates of
rival theories, as traditional, 'tensed' accounts of time, which hold
that time has a direction and that the flow of time is part of the
nature of the universe, have been challenged by 'tenseless' accounts
of time, according to which past, present, and future are merely
subjective features of experience, rather than objective features of
events. Time, Tense, and Causation offers a new approach, in many ways
intermediate between these two rivals. Tooley shares with tensed
approaches the view that the universe is dynamic, holding that the
past and the present are real while the future is not; but he rejects
the view that this entails that there are irreducible tensed facts.
Tooley's approach accounts for time in terms of its relation to
causation: he argues that the direction of time is based upon the
direction of causation, and that the key to understanding the dynamic
nature of the universe is to understand the nature of causation. He
also offers analyses of tensed concepts, and discusses semantic issues
concerning truth and time. Finally, addressing the formidable
difficulties posed for tensed accounts of time by the Special Theory
of Relativity, he suggests that a modified version of the theory,
compatible with the account of time in this book, is to be preferred
to the standard version. Time, Tense, and Causation is rich in
sophisticated and stimulating discussions of many of the deepest
problems of metaphysics.
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9780191518980
Publisert
2020
Utgiver
Oxford University Press Academic UK
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter