Abstract

Many philosophers believe in the Block Universe containing all objects and events - those that we intuitively call past, present, and future. But some of those who endorse this ontology of time also believe that objects persist by enduring - by being present in their entirety at all moments at which they exist. This combination of views, the Block Universe with Endurance, has survived the initial assault of the problem of temporary intrinsics and of several later objections. But I argue that the Block Universe with Endurance fails to account for a striking feature of our temporal experience and must be rejected in favor of the Block Universe with Exdurance.

Highlights

  • Many philosophers believe in the Block Universe containing all objects and events – those that we intuitively call past, present, and future

  • Different times and their contents are like different places and their contents, all real; times are certain regions of spacetime. Some of those who endorse this ontology of time and spacetime believe that objects persist by enduring – by being present in their entirety at all moments at which they exist; or, in more recent terminology, by being multilocated at many instantaneous spacetime regions

  • I argue below that Block Universe with eNdurance (BUN) fails to account for a striking feature of our temporal experience and must be rejected in favor of the Block Universe with eXdurance (BUX)

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Summary

Introduction

Many philosophers believe in the Block Universe containing all objects and events – those that we intuitively call past, present, and future According to this view, different times and their contents are like different places and their contents, all real; times are certain regions of spacetime. Some of those who endorse this ontology of time and spacetime believe that objects persist by enduring – by being present in their entirety (i.e. with no parts absent) at all moments at which they exist; or, in more recent terminology, by being multilocated at many instantaneous spacetime regions This combination of views – call it the Block Universe with eNdurance (BUN) – has survived the initial assault of the problem of temporary intrinsics and of several later objections.. Fission, Fusion respond to a series of objections to the initial problem, discussed in §§4 and 5

The Initial Problem
The Block Universe with Exdurance
Fission and Stages of the Self
Further Objections and Replies
The Stalemate
More on Times and Persons
Concluding Remarks
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