Other Times

We view things from a certain position in time: in our language, thought, feelings and actions, we draw distinctions between what has happened, is happening, and will happen. Frequently, approaches to this feature of our lives - those seen in disputes between tensed and tenseless theories, between realist and anti-realist treatments of past and future, and in accounts of historical knowledge - embody serious misunderstandings of the character of the issues; they misconstrue the relation between metaphysics and ethics, and the way to characterize the kind of sense which tensed language has. David Cockburn argues that the notion of 'reasons for emotion' must have a central place in any account of meaning, and that the present should have no priority in our understanding of tense. This allows for a more satisfactory articulation of the place of past, present and future in our thought, and of the form which criticism of our thought might take.

''I think this is a splendid book. It is unusual, extraordinarily rich and sometimes, indeed, moving. It deserves a wide audience. Certainly it is not just a book for those with a specialist interest in the philosophy of time'. A. W. Moore, The Times Literary Supplement, 'Any philosopher needs a lot of passion to tackle such deeply frustrating questions. David Cockburn, who does so in his fine new book, also reveals that he is a very human philosopher as well' David Carr, History and Theory, 'Anyone interested in the philosophy of time must certainly read this excellent book. I have seldom enjoyed and respected a book so much with which I disagree so deeply'. Timothy Sprigge, Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 'David Cockburn's book … is an inspired, perceptive and engaging study which, one hopes, will motivate many to have another look at the philosophy of time and its interconnections with other themes in current philosophy.' Christoph Hoerl, Mind, 'I was … greatly stimulated by David Cockburn's remarkable book. His discussion is rich and subtle, covering a wide range of related issues, and drawing on countless examples from ordinary life to support his arguments. He has made a splendid case for shifting, or at least widening, the debate about tense to give ethical issues a central place, and his exploration of the relationship between tense and ethics represents a significant advance on previous work, notably by Nagel and Parfit. And the message which lies at the heart of the book demands our serious attention: that, if one abstracts the debate about the reality of tense and of other times from the human context which gives temporal talk its substantive content, one should not expect to derive consequences which have human significance'. Robin le Poidevin, Philosophical Investigations