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    The fixity of the past is not grounded merely in causal i... — Carmelics
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    Challenges→The idea of the necessity of the past may be confused.

    The fixity of the past is not grounded merely in causal intuitions but in the logical principle that what has occurred cannot be made not to have occurred.

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    1 reason for
    1 reason against

    Reasons For

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    Reason for
    ?
    • 1.Logical contradictions cannot be true: 'X occurred and X did not occur' violates the law of non-contradiction regardless of causation.
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    • 2.The past's fixity follows from the meaning of 'past': by definition, past events have already become determinate and cannot retroactively alter.
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    • 3.Even if we could causally influence the past, we cannot make true statements about it false, which shows fixity transcends causal possibility.
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    Reasons Against

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    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.The logical principle conflates semantic fixity (our statements about the past are determinate) with metaphysical fixity (past events cannot be different).
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    • 2.Open future theories suggest tenseless logic may not apply to time: 'occurred' itself presupposes a particular temporal metaphysics, not a neutral logical principle.
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    • 3.The argument begs the question by defining 'past' in ways that already assume fixity rather than deriving it from logical principles alone.
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    Connections

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    Free Will & Foreknowledge1 linked

    Related

    Even if we could causally influence the past, we cannot make true statements abo...Logical contradictions cannot be true: 'X occurred and X did not occur' violates...Open future theories suggest tenseless logic may not apply to time: 'occurred' i...The argument begs the question by defining 'past' in ways that already assume fi...
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    The idea of the necessity of the past may be confused.The logical principle conflates semantic fixity (our statements about the past a...The past's fixity follows from the meaning of 'past': by definition, past events...

    Details

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