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Are A series and B series actually about time or only about language?
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Actually, A series is represented by sentences like:
She was home yesterday.
B series represented by sentences like:
She was home on the 24th of August, 2018.
A-theory represents time as A series. B-theory represents time as B-series. However, the distinction is unclear and even more it's unclear how is it even related to the properties of the universe.
What happens, though, if we change from time to something else? Let's use the sentence:
I saw you before.
Obviously, unless you actually saw every living human in the world, you cannot apply this sentence to every living human.
Now consider the sentence:
I saw [put name here] resident at [put address here] before.
In contrast, this sentence can be applied to any human. It may be uninformative but still will be correct if you are not lying. It also can in most cases look awkward if you say it to that person him-/herself, but correct yet.
So, these two things seem to be related. Can we say then that A and B series are not about time itself and not even about perception of it, but merely about the use of language? Did anyone (recognizable by academy) actually hold this position yet and scrutinized the issue?
Or, turning everything back, can A series and B series be extrapolated outside of time? To space, for example. Compare "100m to the left" with actual coordinates. The first would be similar to A series and second would be similar to B series. However, it's unclear what physical properties can be linked with these series.
philosophy-of-language time
asked Aug 25 at 16:24
rus9384
7241116
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up vote
2
down vote
favorite
Actually, A series is represented by sentences like:
She was home yesterday.
B series represented by sentences like:
She was home on the 24th of August, 2018.
A-theory represents time as A series. B-theory represents time as B-series. However, the distinction is unclear and even more it's unclear how is it even related to the properties of the universe.
What happens, though, if we change from time to something else? Let's use the sentence:
I saw you before.
Obviously, unless you actually saw every living human in the world, you cannot apply this sentence to every living human.
Now consider the sentence:
I saw [put name here] resident at [put address here] before.
In contrast, this sentence can be applied to any human. It may be uninformative but still will be correct if you are not lying. It also can in most cases look awkward if you say it to that person him-/herself, but correct yet.
So, these two things seem to be related. Can we say then that A and B series are not about time itself and not even about perception of it, but merely about the use of language? Did anyone (recognizable by academy) actually hold this position yet and scrutinized the issue?
Or, turning everything back, can A series and B series be extrapolated outside of time? To space, for example. Compare "100m to the left" with actual coordinates. The first would be similar to A series and second would be similar to B series. However, it's unclear what physical properties can be linked with these series.
philosophy-of-language time
asked Aug 25 at 16:24
rus9384
7241116
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
favorite
up vote
2
down vote
favorite
Actually, A series is represented by sentences like:
She was home yesterday.
B series represented by sentences like:
She was home on the 24th of August, 2018.
A-theory represents time as A series. B-theory represents time as B-series. However, the distinction is unclear and even more it's unclear how is it even related to the properties of the universe.
What happens, though, if we change from time to something else? Let's use the sentence:
I saw you before.
Obviously, unless you actually saw every living human in the world, you cannot apply this sentence to every living human.
Now consider the sentence:
I saw [put name here] resident at [put address here] before.
In contrast, this sentence can be applied to any human. It may be uninformative but still will be correct if you are not lying. It also can in most cases look awkward if you say it to that person him-/herself, but correct yet.
So, these two things seem to be related. Can we say then that A and B series are not about time itself and not even about perception of it, but merely about the use of language? Did anyone (recognizable by academy) actually hold this position yet and scrutinized the issue?
Or, turning everything back, can A series and B series be extrapolated outside of time? To space, for example. Compare "100m to the left" with actual coordinates. The first would be similar to A series and second would be similar to B series. However, it's unclear what physical properties can be linked with these series.
philosophy-of-language time
asked Aug 25 at 16:24
rus9384
7241116
Actually, A series is represented by sentences like:
She was home yesterday.
B series represented by sentences like:
She was home on the 24th of August, 2018.
A-theory represents time as A series. B-theory represents time as B-series. However, the distinction is unclear and even more it's unclear how is it even related to the properties of the universe.
What happens, though, if we change from time to something else? Let's use the sentence:
I saw you before.
Obviously, unless you actually saw every living human in the world, you cannot apply this sentence to every living human.
Now consider the sentence:
I saw [put name here] resident at [put address here] before.
In contrast, this sentence can be applied to any human. It may be uninformative but still will be correct if you are not lying. It also can in most cases look awkward if you say it to that person him-/herself, but correct yet.
So, these two things seem to be related. Can we say then that A and B series are not about time itself and not even about perception of it, but merely about the use of language? Did anyone (recognizable by academy) actually hold this position yet and scrutinized the issue?
Or, turning everything back, can A series and B series be extrapolated outside of time? To space, for example. Compare "100m to the left" with actual coordinates. The first would be similar to A series and second would be similar to B series. However, it's unclear what physical properties can be linked with these series.
philosophy-of-language time
asked Aug 25 at 16:24
rus9384
7241116
edited Aug 25 at 19:34
asked Aug 25 at 16:24
rus9384
7241116
asked Aug 25 at 16:24
rus9384
7241116
asked Aug 25 at 16:24
rus9384
7241116
7241116
add a comment |Â
add a comment |Â
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
up vote
3
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I'm not sure I understood everything in your question, but the debate about the A- and B-theories of time is generally not taken to be just about how we use language. Even B-theorists will acknowledge the obvious facts that we use tensed sentences such as "I saw you before" and that these sentences are meaningful in the context of who uttered them to whom and when. But a B-theorist is inclined to argue that that's all there's to it and that there is no fundamental sense in which the present is different from past or future times; once we know who uttered the above sentence to whom, we can transform it into an equivalent sentence such as "Alice saw Bob before 2018/8/25." The A-theorist, on the other hand, will argue that there is something that that transformation leaves out.
answered Aug 25 at 19:25
present
423114
So, is the extrapolation from time to anything else meaningless? For example, "100m to the left" versus actual coordinates sounds similar, but about space.
– rus9384
Aug 25 at 19:31
add a comment |Â
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
3
down vote
I'm not sure I understood everything in your question, but the debate about the A- and B-theories of time is generally not taken to be just about how we use language. Even B-theorists will acknowledge the obvious facts that we use tensed sentences such as "I saw you before" and that these sentences are meaningful in the context of who uttered them to whom and when. But a B-theorist is inclined to argue that that's all there's to it and that there is no fundamental sense in which the present is different from past or future times; once we know who uttered the above sentence to whom, we can transform it into an equivalent sentence such as "Alice saw Bob before 2018/8/25." The A-theorist, on the other hand, will argue that there is something that that transformation leaves out.
answered Aug 25 at 19:25
present
423114
So, is the extrapolation from time to anything else meaningless? For example, "100m to the left" versus actual coordinates sounds similar, but about space.
– rus9384
Aug 25 at 19:31
add a comment |Â
up vote
3
down vote
I'm not sure I understood everything in your question, but the debate about the A- and B-theories of time is generally not taken to be just about how we use language. Even B-theorists will acknowledge the obvious facts that we use tensed sentences such as "I saw you before" and that these sentences are meaningful in the context of who uttered them to whom and when. But a B-theorist is inclined to argue that that's all there's to it and that there is no fundamental sense in which the present is different from past or future times; once we know who uttered the above sentence to whom, we can transform it into an equivalent sentence such as "Alice saw Bob before 2018/8/25." The A-theorist, on the other hand, will argue that there is something that that transformation leaves out.
answered Aug 25 at 19:25
present
423114
So, is the extrapolation from time to anything else meaningless? For example, "100m to the left" versus actual coordinates sounds similar, but about space.
– rus9384
Aug 25 at 19:31
add a comment |Â
up vote
3
down vote
up vote
3
down vote
I'm not sure I understood everything in your question, but the debate about the A- and B-theories of time is generally not taken to be just about how we use language. Even B-theorists will acknowledge the obvious facts that we use tensed sentences such as "I saw you before" and that these sentences are meaningful in the context of who uttered them to whom and when. But a B-theorist is inclined to argue that that's all there's to it and that there is no fundamental sense in which the present is different from past or future times; once we know who uttered the above sentence to whom, we can transform it into an equivalent sentence such as "Alice saw Bob before 2018/8/25." The A-theorist, on the other hand, will argue that there is something that that transformation leaves out.
answered Aug 25 at 19:25
present
423114
I'm not sure I understood everything in your question, but the debate about the A- and B-theories of time is generally not taken to be just about how we use language. Even B-theorists will acknowledge the obvious facts that we use tensed sentences such as "I saw you before" and that these sentences are meaningful in the context of who uttered them to whom and when. But a B-theorist is inclined to argue that that's all there's to it and that there is no fundamental sense in which the present is different from past or future times; once we know who uttered the above sentence to whom, we can transform it into an equivalent sentence such as "Alice saw Bob before 2018/8/25." The A-theorist, on the other hand, will argue that there is something that that transformation leaves out.
answered Aug 25 at 19:25
present
423114
answered Aug 25 at 19:25
present
423114
answered Aug 25 at 19:25
present
423114
answered Aug 25 at 19:25
present
423114
423114
So, is the extrapolation from time to anything else meaningless? For example, "100m to the left" versus actual coordinates sounds similar, but about space.
– rus9384
Aug 25 at 19:31
add a comment |Â
So, is the extrapolation from time to anything else meaningless? For example, "100m to the left" versus actual coordinates sounds similar, but about space.
– rus9384
Aug 25 at 19:31
So, is the extrapolation from time to anything else meaningless? For example, "100m to the left" versus actual coordinates sounds similar, but about space.
– rus9384
Aug 25 at 19:31
So, is the extrapolation from time to anything else meaningless? For example, "100m to the left" versus actual coordinates sounds similar, but about space.
– rus9384
Aug 25 at 19:31
add a comment |Â
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