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    Sider's 'four-dimensionalism' explicitly allows that perd... — Carmelics
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    Challenges→The claim that things have temporal parts if and only if the past and future exist has a peculiar consequence.

    Sider's 'four-dimensionalism' explicitly allows that perdurance is compatible with presentism if temporal parts are construed as instantaneous intrinsic property-bearers rather than requiring robust past/future ontology.

    ?Rate how convincing each reason is below to see the overall strength.
    1 reason for
    1 reason against

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
    ?
    • 1.Presentism requires only present entities; instantaneous temporal parts exist only now, avoiding commitment to non-existent past/future.
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    • 2.Intrinsic properties of instantaneous stages can ground facts about persistence without positing robust cross-temporal reality.
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    • 3.This reconciliation preserves four-dimensionalism's explanatory power for change while respecting presentism's temporal ontology.
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    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.Instantaneous temporal parts lack duration; it's unclear how momentary entities constitute genuine perdurance across time.
      ?

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    • 2.Without past/future parts, the identity relation connecting temporal stages becomes mysterious and under-motivated theoretically.
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    • 3.This hybrid view may collapse into endurantism, undermining four-dimensionalism's core claim that persistence involves having distinct parts.
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    Key Terms

    Instantaneous(describing temporal parts that exist at just one moment)
    Existing or occurring at a single moment in time with zero duration, like a snapshot rather than a video.
    Ontology(Carnap argues this enterprise is based on a mistake)
    The philosophical discipline that tries to answer hard questions about what there really is.
    Property-bearer(describing what temporal parts are in this theory)
    Something that possesses or holds properties; basically, a thing that has characteristics or qualities.
    Robust(in the discussion of mathematical properties)
    Strong, reliable, and stable—something that doesn't break or change significantly when conditions vary slightly.
    Sider(as the philosopher whose theory is being discussed)
    Theodore Sider is a contemporary philosopher who studies metaphysics—the nature of reality—and has developed influential theories about how objects exist through time.
    Temporal parts(Four-dimensionalist solution to the problem of change)
    Distinct stages of a temporally extended object, such that the puppy Oscar and the old gray-muzzled Oscar are distinct parts of the whole Oscar
    four-dimensionalism(metaphysics of identity and time)
    The philosophical view that objects (including people) are made up of temporal parts or stages, just like a physical object has spatial parts; you exist across time like a movie reel exists as many frames.
    intrinsic property(Contrasted with relational property in the analysis of molecular shape)
    A property possessed by an object independently of its relations to other things
    perdurance(Lewis's account of change)
    The account on which objects persist by having distinct temporal parts at different times
    presentism(Philosophy of time)
    The view that, necessarily, it is always true that only present objects exist; no objects exist in time without being present

    Connections

    2 topics

    Modality & Possibility1 linkedPersonal Identity1 linked

    Related

    Instantaneous temporal parts lack duration; it's unclear how momentary entities ...Intrinsic properties of instantaneous stages can ground facts about persistence ...

    Details

    Type
    claim
    Perspectives
    2 (1 for, 1 against)
    Edits
    1 edit
    Presentism requires only present entities; instantaneous temporal parts exist on...
    The claim that things have temporal parts if and only if the past and future exi...
    +3 moreShow less
    This hybrid view may collapse into endurantism, undermining four-dimensionalism'...This reconciliation preserves four-dimensionalism's explanatory power for change...Without past/future parts, the identity relation connecting temporal stages beco...