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How Time Passes

Online ISBN:
9780198929192
Print ISBN:
9780198929161
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
Book

How Time Passes

Thomas Sattig
Thomas Sattig

Professor of Philosophy

University of Tübingen
,
Germany
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Published online:
1 April 2025
Published in print:
25 April 2025
Online ISBN:
9780198929192
Print ISBN:
9780198929161
Publisher:
Oxford University Press

Abstract

Time organizes things in a dynamic fashion, whereas space organizes things in a static fashion—things in time undergo passage, whereas things in space do not. What makes the temporal organization of things dynamic? What is the nature of the passage of time? Traditional discussions of passage have taken one of two perspectives. Some philosophers start with passage as a phenomenon that occurs in the physical world and ask what constitutes this objective phenomenon. Others start with passage as a phenomenon that is given in our experiences of the world and ask what constitutes this subjective phenomenon. In this book, both perspectives on passage are given equal weight. The first part of the book concerns the existence and nature of physical passage. The second part concerns the existence and nature of experiential passage. In both parts, the standard kind of explanation of passage is juxtaposed with a new kind of explanation. On the familiar tripartite approach, the denizens of time undergo passage in virtue of changing with respect to what is past, what is present, and what is future. On the geometrical approach, the denizens of time undergo passage in virtue of being temporally organized in a manner that does not involve the holding of any geometrical relations between them. In the book, two main claims are developed and defended. First, passage is not a phenomenon in the mind-independent world. Passage is an experiential illusion. Second, experiential passage is not tripartite passage. Experiential passage is geometrical passage.

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