Four dimensionalism

In the philosophy of time, four dimensionalism is a term sometimes used to refer to the view that the past, present and future are all equally real, and that (tenselessly) there exist dinosaurs, people and (if there will be such things) cities on Mars. These things don't exist "now" but they do exist, with the analogy often being that, if I am in London, New York doesn't exist "here" even though it does exist. It is to be contrasted with presentism. 'Four dimensionalism' is also sometimes used to refer to this view "plus" the B-Theory of time.

But sometimes the term is instead used to refer to the view that objects persist by having temporal parts.

In Popular Culture

Four dimensionalism is a key concept in Kurt Vonnegut's book, Slaughterhouse-five. In the book, Tralfamadorians are an alien species that can see time.

External links

*Brown, C.L., 2006, " [http://www.unrestrictedphilosophy.com What is Space?"] A philosophical, largely Wittgensteinian, approach towards a dissolution of the question: "What is space?"
*Rea, M. C., " [http://www.nd.edu/~mrea/Online%20Papers/Four%20Dimensionalism.pdf Four Dimensionalism] " in "The Oxford Handbook for Metaphysics". Oxford Univ. Press. Describes presentism and four dimensionalism.