Time and Cross-Temporal Relations

According to both ordinary and scientific thought, two objects can enter into relation not only simultaneously, but also at different times, namely cross-temporally. For instance, we understand comparisons between entities as they are at different times, as when we say that John is now taller than Michael was three years ago; causally related events often are not simultaneous, and objects of perceptions and perceivers usually have different temporal locations (we see ordinary things as they were few milliseconds ago, we see the sun as it was eight minutes ago, and so on). However, many philosophers take language and thoughts about cross-temporality as deceptive. Relations, the “standard view” goes, can hold only between things existing at the same time. In this book I defend the opposite view, according to which relations can be cross-temporally instantiated and thus cross-temporal talk must be taken seriously. The theory is based on the idea that persisting in time is tantamount to possessing temporal parts at different times, and its central tenet is that persisting entities (objects and events alike) are cross-temporally related by having distinct temporal parts entering into relations.