Description: Current approaches to the question of our position in time--such as those seen in disputes between tensed and tenseless theories, and between realist and anti-realist treatments of past and future--misconstrue the relation between metaphysics and ethics, and the way to characterize the kind of sense which tensed language has. In this original and thought-provoking study, 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.
Review Quotes: "The book is clearly impressive in its scope and originality. In presenting the debate between the tensed and tenseless theories in an entirely new light, it provides a serious challenge to all who participate in it." Michele C. M. Beer, International Philosophical Quarterly