Dr Graeme Forbes from the Department of Philosophy and Kristie Miller, Director of the Centre for Time, at the University of Sydney debated the future for Growing-Block Theory at the third annual conference of the International Association for the Philosophy of Time (IAPT) on Friday June 10 in North Carolina, USA.
The IAPT is formed by the Philosophy of Time Society, the Centre for Time, and the Centre for Philosophy of Time. The main purpose of IAPT is facilitating the exchange of information and collaboration in joint projects.
The Growing-Block view of time is the view that the past exists and the future does not, so the passage of time is events coming into existence. But this characterisation leaves many questions unanswered: If the past exists, what is the difference between past and present? What is the difference between a ‘growing’ world and one that is made up of the same events but doesn’t grow? If experience is meant to make the Growing-Block view a plausible account of the nature of time, what features of experience are relevant?
Further details of the IAPT and the event are available at: http://www.centreforphilosophyoftime.it/iapt-4/