Temporal Relations and Temporal Becoming: In Defense of a Russellian Theory of Time

by Nathan L. Oaklander

There are two different ways in which we ordinarily think and talk about time. On the one hand, we think of events in the world's history as being temporally related. On the other hand, we think of events as passing from the future into the present, and from the present into the past. To think of events in the second way is to conceive of them as temporally becoming. Philosophers have wondered which, if either, of these two ways of conceiving time is more fundamental. Although most of the recent books in the philosophy of time have been attempts to defend the becoming view, the aim of this work is to present systematic defense of Russellian theory of time according to which time consists solely of temporal relations between and among temporal objects. For courses in metaphysics, philosophy of time, and philosophical analysis.

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1984