Time, Space, and Metaphysics

Time, Space, and Metaphysics engages with major philosophical questions concerning time and space, a framework for the investigation being provided by the debate between the absolutists and the relationists, so between Newton and Leibniz, and their followers. The investigation brings to the fore questions of the nature and reality of time and space, and leads on to more recent debates, such as those relating to anti-realism, time travel, temporal parts, geometry, convention, and the infinitude of time and space. These in turn raise more general issues, issues involving such concepts as those of identity, objectivity, causation, facts, and verifiability. Their examination falls within metaphysics, thought of as the investigation and analysis of fundamental philosophical concepts, but there is also metaphysics of a more contentious character, where the subject-matter is provided by propositions which transcend what can be known either through experience or by pure reasoning. In this connection, a central aim is to show how, without dismissing them as nonsensical, we may arrive at a fruitful interpretation of such propositions. Contents......Page 8 Preface......Page 10 1.1 Absolute and relational time......Page 12 1.2 Absolute and relational space......Page 17 1.3 Metrical and non-metrical concepts......Page 21 2.1 Temporal precedence......Page 29 2.2 Causation and order......Page 36 2.3 Order and change......Page 40 3. Time and Tense......Page 45 3.1 Indexicality and tense......Page 46 3.2 Subjectivity and perspective......Page 53 3.3 Tense and tenselessness......Page 60 4.1 Reality and scepticism......Page 71 4.2 Mind-dependence, indeterminacy, and convention......Page 81 4.3 Temporal parts and temporary intrinsics......Page 89 5.1 Present and past reality......Page 100 5.2 McTaggart and the unreality of time......Page 106 5.3 Anti-realism and the past......Page 114 6. The Future......Page 125 6.1 Predictions and truth......Page 126 6.2 Conditionals and modality......Page 130 6.3 Precognition......Page 137 7. Grammar and Ontology......Page 143 7.1 Abstract nouns and clauses......Page 144 7.2 Facts......Page 151 7.3 Instants and the passage of time......Page 160 8.1 Verifiability......Page 167 8.2 Simultaneity......Page 177 8.3 Equality and convention......Page 181 9.1 Time and infinity......Page 189 9.2 Causes, causal conditions, and backwards causation......Page 197 9.3 Time travel......Page 212 10.1 Absolute space......Page 217 10.2 The reality of space......Page 223 10.3 Space and curvature......Page 234 11.1 Change and persistence......Page 242 11.2 Temporal vacua......Page 247 11.3 Time, change, and empirical equivalence......Page 258 References......Page 265 E......Page 272 N......Page 273 T......Page 274 W......Page 275 Contents 8 Preface 10 1. Conceptions of Time and Space 12 1.1 Absolute and relational time 12 1.2 Absolute and relational space 17 1.3 Metrical and non-metrical concepts 21 2. Time, Order, and Direction 29 2.1 Temporal precedence 29 2.2 Causation and order 36 2.3 Order and change 40 3. Time and Tense 45 3.1 Indexicality and tense 46 3.2 Subjectivity and perspective 53 3.3 Tense and tenselessness 60 4. Observer-Dependence 71 4.1 Reality and scepticism 71 4.2 Mind-dependence, indeterminacy, and convention 81 4.3 Temporal parts and temporary intrinsics 89 5. The Past 100 5.1 Present and past reality 100 5.2 McTaggart and the unreality of time 106 5.3 Anti-realism and the past 114 6. The Future 125 6.1 Predictions and truth 126 6.2 Conditionals and modality 130 6.3 Precognition 137 7. Grammar and Ontology 143 7.1 Abstract nouns and clauses 144 7.2 Facts 151 7.3 Instants and the passage of time 160 8. Equality of Time Intervals 167 8.1 Verifiability 167 8.2 Simultaneity 177 8.3 Equality and convention 181 9. Temporal Asymmetries 189 9.1 Time and infinity 189 9.2 Causes, causal conditions, and backwards causation 197 9.3 Time travel 212 10. Space 217 10.1 Absolute space 217 10.2 The reality of space 223 10.3 Space and curvature 234 11. Time and Change 242 11.1 Change and persistence 242 11.2 Temporal vacua 247 11.3 Time, change, and empirical equivalence 258 References 265 Index 272 A 272 B 272 C 272 D 272 E 272 F 273 G 273 H 273 I 273 J 273 K 273 L 273 M 273 N 273 O 274 P 274 Q 274 R 274 S 274 T 274 U 275 V 275 W 275