prior on the present

Prior on the Present

The real is not just another box in which things can be placed (like “the mind” or “the world of

Greek mythology”).

“There are centaurs in the world of Greek mythology” =

Greek myth-makers have said that there are centaurs.

“Really,” “actually,” “in fact” are all redundant expressions

In the same way, the present is not a region among others. “Presently,” “now,” and

“currently” are redundant expressions also.

Past times and future times are not real in the same way in which the present moment is.

Does time flow or pass? --Not really, not literally – flowing and passing require time, so this would

require some kind of super time.

Does time flow or pass? --Not really, not literally – flowing and passing require time, so this would

require some kind of super time.

Events do change, while they are occurring, but what about the change in an event when it goes

from past to present to future?

“The things that change are existing things, and it’s while they exist that they change.”

St. Augustine (354-430 CE)

"What then is time? If no one asks me, I know what it is. If I wish to explain it to him who asks, I do not know.”

St. Augustine

If moments move from past into present and then into future, where do they come from, and where do they go?

The past seems to exist presently in memory, and the future seems to exist presently in anticipation.

St. Augustine

Only present moments are present, so only present moments are real.

St. Augustine

The moment that is present can seem to be long or short, when we focus on an event. (This is a long class….)

But if we can subdivide a moment into parts, then not all of the parts are present at once.

St. Augustine

In fact, if we can subdivide a moment at all, then we can distinguish the parts of it that are past and future from the part that is present.

This means that the present moment has no duration, even though it is the only moment that is real.

Prior: to say that a change occurred is to say, of some sentence P, that “It was the case that P, and

it is not the case that P.”

Prior: talk about events passing is really talk about things changing.