Tensed Metaphysics and Non-Local Grounding of Truth

• Published in: Disputatio (Lisbon, Portugal) Vol. 13; no. 63; pp. 411 - 422
• Main Author: Wawer, Jacek
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sciendo 01.12.2021
• Subjects: future contingents; grounding; growing block; metaphysics of time; semantics
• ISSN: 2182-2875; 2182-2875
• DOI: 10.2478/disp-2021-0023

It is argued that the assignment of truth values to future contingents is threatened not by a tensed metaphysics but by a temporally “local” notion of truth, , by the assumption that whatever is true at a given time needs to be grounded in what exists at that time. If this assumption is accepted, tensed and tenseless metaphysics are equally vulnerable; if it is rejected, both can accommodate true future contingents. This means that semantic decisions are largely independent of metaphysical considerations. The work of Correia and Rosenkranz (2018) is a clear example of how the tensed metaphysics of the growing block can incorporate true future contingents. Two potential worries are discussed in the context of their work: (a) that their grounding strategy overgeneralizes and admits true counterfactual contingents; and (b) that the growing block theory lacks sufficient resources to distinguish the unique possible future course of events that is relevant for the grounding of future contingents.