Ockhamism and Philosophy of Time

This book discusses fundamental topics on contemporary Ockhamism. The collected essays show how contemporary Ockhamism can impact areas of research such as semantics, metaphysics and also the philosophy of science. In addition, the volume hosts one historian of Medieval philosophy who investigates the way in which William of Ockham "in flesh and bone" construed time and, more generally, future contingency.

The essays explore the different meanings of this theory. They cover three main topics, in particular. The first examines the thesis that sentences and propositions about the future have a definite truth value, without any ensuing commitment to determinism or fatalism. The second topic looks at the problem whether the branching-time model needs to countenance a privileged branch (the so-called Thin Red Line). Finally, the third topic considers the idea that there are so-called soft facts. These would be the subject matter of sentences and propositions verballyabout the present or the past, but metaphysically about a later time, and which might change in the future.

Overall, the book provides an updated and rigorous idea of the debate about Ockhamism. It gives readers a deeper understanding into this philosophical approach influenced by William of Ockham, characterized by the rejection of the Aristotelian idea that, in order to preserve the contingency of the future, future contingents must be deemed neither true nor false.

Autorentext

Dr. Alessio Santelli. Completed his PhD at Ca' Foscari University of Venice. He carried out research activities at LOGOS, University of Barcelona (UB), and at the University of L'Aquila. His main interests are in semantics, temporal logic and in philosophy of time, with a particular focus on the problem of Future Contingents.

Inhalt

1. From William of Ockham to contemporary Ockhamism and back again: an overviewAlessio Santelli
2. The Metaphysics of OckhamismAndrea Iacona
3. The Metaphysics of Passage in Dynamical Reduction Models of Quantum MechanicsGiuliano Torrengo and Cristian Mariani
4. Ockham on TimeCecilia Trifogli
5. Future Contingents in a Branching UniverseMitchell S. Green
6. Ockhamistic Inspiration in Modern Tense-LogicPeter Øhrstrøm and David Jakobsen
7. Ockhamism without MolinismJacek Wawer
8. Presentism, Ockhamism and Truth-GroundingFabrice Correia and Sven Rosenkranz
9. A too thin true future: The problem of grounding within presentist TRL semanticsCiro De Florio and Aldo Frigerio