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    If a B-theoretic subject S knows what time it is at more ... — Carmelics
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    Supports→On the B-theory too, there is reason to worry about the combination of omniscience with timelessness.

    If a B-theoretic subject S knows what time it is at more than one time, then they undergo changes.

    Afterlife & Death
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    1 reason for
    2 reasons against

    Reasons For

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    Reason for
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    • 1.How they believe what they believe changes over time.
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    • 2.They need to keep track of their temporal perspective by having appropriately varied tensed beliefs (e.g., 'it's noon', 'it's 12:01').
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    Reasons Against

    2 perspectives
    Reason against 1 of 2
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    • 1.A B-theoretic subject S can possess a single eternal, unchanging belief-state that encodes all temporal indexicals as relational facts (e.g., 'at t1, it is t1').
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    • 2.If all of S's tensed beliefs are reducible to tenseless relational propositions known simultaneously, no belief-state needs to be added, revised, or discarded across time.
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    • 3.Therefore S can satisfy 'knowing what time it is at more than one time' without undergoing any intrinsic change in their doxastic states.
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    Reason against 2 of 2
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    • 1.On a four-dimensionalist ontology (Sider, Lewis), S is a perduring entity whose temporal parts each instantiate the relevant time-knowledge without any single part changing.
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    • 2.Change for a perduring entity requires that numerically distinct temporal parts differ intrinsically, but distributing knowledge across parts entails no part itself undergoes change.
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    • 3.The supporting argument conflates change across an entity's temporal parts with change within a persisting subject, which begs the question against the B-theorist.
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    Related

    A B-theoretic subject S can possess a single eternal, unchanging belief-state th...Change for a perduring entity requires that numerically distinct temporal parts ...How they believe what they believe changes over time.If all of S's tensed beliefs are reducible to tenseless relational propositions ...
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    On a four-dimensionalist ontology (Sider, Lewis), S is a perduring entity whose ...The supporting argument conflates change across an entity's temporal parts with ...Therefore S can satisfy 'knowing what time it is at more than one time' without ...They need to keep track of their temporal perspective by having appropriately va...

    Similar

    If a B-theoretic subject knows what time it is at more than one time, ...99%A conception of how God relates to time is a defining element of any c...76%How one sees God's relationship to time has repercussions throughout p...75%If God changes constantly, then God is in time.73%

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    SEP: eternity
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    Therefore, if a B-theoretic subject S knows (at more than one time) what time it is, then they undergo changes. The reason is that how they believe what they believe changes. They need to keep track of their temporal perspective by having appropriately varied tensed beliefs (“it’s noon”, “it’s 12:01”). At least this is so for anyone whose temporal nature relevantly resembles our own. Does this group include God? If so, then on the B-theory too, there is reason to worry about the combination of omniscience with timelessness.

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    claim
    Perspectives
    3 (1 for, 2 against)
    Edits
    1 edit