Four-Dimensionalism : An Ontology of Persistence and Time

Author: Sider, Theodore (Professor of Philosophy, New York University)

Philosophy: metaphysics & ontology

Published on 1 June 2003 by OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS in the United Kingdom.

Paperback / softback | 288 pages, 13 figures
216 x 139 x 16 | 352g

Four-Dimensionalism defends the thesis that the material world is composed of temporal as well as spatial parts. This defense includes a novel account of persistence over time, new arguments in favour of the four-dimensional ontology, and responses to the challenges four-dimensionalism faces. Theodore Sider pays particular attention to the philosophy of time, including a strong series of arguments against presentism, the thesis that only the present is real. Arguments offered in favour of four-dimensionalism include novel arguments based on time travel, the debate beween spacetime substantivalists and relationalists, and vagueness. Also included is a comprehensive discussion of the paradoxes of coinciding material objects, and a novel resolution of those paradoxes based on temporal counterpart theory. In conclusion Sider replies to prominent objections to four-dimensionalism, including discussion of the problem of the rotating homogenous disk.

Four Dimensionalism is an original and highly readable study of the metaphysics of time and identity.