Nefarious presentism
Presentists, who believe that only present objects exist, face a problem concerning truths about the past. Presentists should (but cannot) locate truth-makers for truths about the past. What can presentists say in response? We identify two rival factions: ‘upstanding’ and ‘nefarious’ presentists. Up...
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| Format: | Article |
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Oxford University Press
2015
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/33718/ |
| _version_ | 1848794688445743104 |
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| author | Tallant, Jonathan Ingram, David |
| author_facet | Tallant, Jonathan Ingram, David |
| author_sort | Tallant, Jonathan |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Presentists, who believe that only present objects exist, face a problem concerning truths about the past. Presentists should (but cannot) locate truth-makers for truths about the past. What can presentists say in response? We identify two rival factions: ‘upstanding’ and ‘nefarious’ presentists. Upstanding presentists aim to meet the challenge, positing presently existing truth-makers for truths about the past; nefarious presentists aim to shirk their responsibilities, using the language of truth-maker theory but without paying any ontological price. We argue that presentists should be nefarious presentists. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:20:10Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-33718 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:20:10Z |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publisher | Oxford University Press |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-337182020-05-04T17:09:24Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/33718/ Nefarious presentism Tallant, Jonathan Ingram, David Presentists, who believe that only present objects exist, face a problem concerning truths about the past. Presentists should (but cannot) locate truth-makers for truths about the past. What can presentists say in response? We identify two rival factions: ‘upstanding’ and ‘nefarious’ presentists. Upstanding presentists aim to meet the challenge, positing presently existing truth-makers for truths about the past; nefarious presentists aim to shirk their responsibilities, using the language of truth-maker theory but without paying any ontological price. We argue that presentists should be nefarious presentists. Oxford University Press 2015-07-01 Article PeerReviewed Tallant, Jonathan and Ingram, David (2015) Nefarious presentism. Philosophical Quarterly, 65 (260). pp. 355-371. ISSN 0031-8094 Presentism; truth-making; the truth-maker objection to presentism http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/pq/pqu095 doi:10.1093/pq/pqu095 doi:10.1093/pq/pqu095 |
| spellingShingle | Presentism; truth-making; the truth-maker objection to presentism Tallant, Jonathan Ingram, David Nefarious presentism |
| title | Nefarious presentism |
| title_full | Nefarious presentism |
| title_fullStr | Nefarious presentism |
| title_full_unstemmed | Nefarious presentism |
| title_short | Nefarious presentism |
| title_sort | nefarious presentism |
| topic | Presentism; truth-making; the truth-maker objection to presentism |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/33718/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/33718/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/33718/ |