Leibnizian Chronadology: Monads and Time.
I argue that we can learn quite a lot about Leibniz's metaphysics, in particular about monads and their relationship to time, by viewing Leibniz through a McTaggartian lens. After presenting McTaggart's highly influential two basic conceptions of time, the A- (or tensed) and B- (or tenseless) concep...
| Published in: | Journal of Philosophical Research Vol. 31; pp. 185 - 219 |
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| Format: | Article |
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Philosophy Documentation Center
2006
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=23334433&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 23334433 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 10538364 1499 jtl: Journal of Philosophical Research issn: 10538364 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: 2006 vid: 31 pid: 2411 pub: Philosophy Documentation Center artinfo: ui: 23334433 ppf: 185 ppct: 34 formats: tig: atl: Leibnizian Chronadology: Monads and Time. aug: au: Pessin, Andrew affil: Connecticut College su: Monadology Metaphysics Ontology Spacetime Sensory perception Analogy sug: subj: Monadology Metaphysics Ontology Spacetime Sensory perception Analogy ab: I argue that we can learn quite a lot about Leibniz's metaphysics, in particular about monads and their relationship to time, by viewing Leibniz through a McTaggartian lens. After presenting McTaggart's highly influential two basic conceptions of time, the A- (or tensed) and B- (or tenseless) conceptions, I distinguish four possible models of the relationship between monads and time: the first two invoke tenses, differing in whether they treat non-present states as "real," while the latter two are tenseless, differing in whether we construe the monad as (tenselessly) manifesting distinguishable perceptual states or as being in one indivisible but complex perceptual state representing the "world" as varying over time. A detailed study of the relative merits and demerits of the four models supports, I argue, the last model. Along the way I provide a Leibnizian account of the conscious illusion of temporal flow. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y dt: @attributes: year: 2006 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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