OUP: Bourne: A Future for Presentism - Oxford University Press

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This book is available in Oxford Scholarship Online - view abstracts and keywords at book and chapter level.

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Mathematics & Sciences

Metaphysics

A Future for Presentism

Craig Bourne

Clarendon Press

256 pages | numerous line drawings and mathematical examples | 216x138mm

978-0-19-921280-4 | Hardback | 07 December 2006

Also available as: Paperback

Price: £37.00

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First book-length defence of presentism - the view that only the present exists
A fascinating read
Accessible to non-specialists
A self-contained and useful resource for those interested in the physics as well as the philosophy
Many figures to aid understanding

Presentism, the view that only the present exists, was a much neglected position in the philosophy of time for a number of years. Recently, however, it has been enjoying a renaissance among philosophers. A Future for Presentism is meant as a timely contribution to this fast growing and exciting debate.

After discussing rival positions in the philosophy of time, in Part I Craig Bourne shows how presentism is the only viable alternative to the tenseless theory of time. He then develops a distinctive version of presentism that avoids the mistakes of the past, and which sets up the framework for solving problems traditionally associated with the position, such as what makes past-tensed statements true, how to give the proper semantics for statements about the future, how to deal with transtemporal relations, how we can meaningfully talk about past individuals, and how causation can be accommodated. Part I concludes with a discussion of the direction of time and causation, the decision-theoretic problem known as 'Newcomb's problem', and the possibility of time travel and causal loops. In Part II Bourne focuses on the problems for presentism raised by relativity theory. He begins with by giving a self-contained exposition of the concepts of special relativity that are important for understanding the later discussion of its philosophical implications. The last two chapters explore the philosophical implications of certain cosmological models that arise from general relativity, namely the expanding models, which seem to represent our universe, and Gödel's infamous model, which allows us to take a journey into our future and arrive in our past. The necessary physics is explained with the aid of diagrams, throughout.

Readership: Scholars and students of philosophy, especially metaphysics and philosophy of physics; scientists interested in the philosophical ramifications of relativity

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The specification in this catalogue, including without limitation price, format, extent, number of illustrations, and month of publication, was as accurate as possible at the time the catalogue was compiled. Occasionally, due to the nature of some contractual restrictions, we are unable to ship a specific product to a particular territory. Jacket images are provisional and liable to change before publication.

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