Temporal Fictionalism for a Timeless World

Baron, Sam; Miller, Kristie; Tallant, Jonathan

Abstract

Current debate in the metaphysics of time ordinarily assumes that we should be realists about time. Recently, however, a number of physicists and philosophers of physics have proposed that time will play no role in a completed theory of quantum gravity. This paper defends fictionalism about temporal thought, on the supposition that our world is timeless. We argue that, in the face of timeless physical theories, realism about temporal thought is unsustainable: some kind of anti-realism must be adopted. We go on to provide an argument against eliminativism about temporal thought. While it doesn't follow from this argument that fictionalism about temporal thought is true, we suggest that this nonetheless shows that fictionalism should be regarded as the preferred view.

Citation

Baron, S., Miller, K., & Tallant, J. (2021). Temporal Fictionalism for a Timeless World. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 102(2), 281-301. https://doi.org/10.1111/phpr.12637

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 26, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Sep 26, 2019
• Publication Date: 2021-03
• Deposit Date: Jul 2, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 27, 2021
• Journal: Philosophy and Phenomenological Research
• Print ISSN: 0031-8205
• Electronic ISSN: 1933-1592
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 102
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 281-301
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/phpr.12637
• Keywords: Philosophy; History and Philosophy of Science
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2258240
• Publisher URL: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/phpr.12637
• Additional Information: This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Baron, S, Miller, K, Tallant, J. Temporal Fictionalism for a Timeless World. Philos Phenomenol Res. 2019; 00: 1– 21, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/phpr.12637. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions