Metaphysics Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! === Space, time, and change === {{main|Philosophy of space and time}} [[Space]] and [[time]] are dimensions that entities occupy. Spacetime realists state that space and time are fundamental aspects of reality and exist independently of the human mind. This view is rejected by spacetime idealists, who hold that space and time are constructions of the human mind in its attempt to organize and make sense of reality.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Dainton|2010|pp=[https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/time-and-space/spatial-antirealism/CE284C8D3088AF598998951618D4867D 245β246]}} | {{harvnb|Janiak|2022|loc=Β§ 4.2 Absolute/Relational Vs. Real/Ideal}} | {{harvnb|Pelczar|2015|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=tkjTBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA115 115]}} }}</ref> Spacetime absolutism or substantivalism understands spacetime as a distinct object, with some metaphysicians conceptualizing it as a box that contains all other entities within it. [[Relationalism#Relationalism (theory of space and time)|Spacetime relationism]], by contrast, sees spacetime not as an object but as relations between objects, such as the spatial relation of ''being next to'' and the temporal relation of ''coming before''.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Hoefer|Huggett|Read|2023|loc=Lead Section}} | {{harvnb|Benovsky|2016|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=4KHWCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA19 19β20]}} | {{harvnb|Romero|2018|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=5wJ2DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA135 135]}} }}</ref> In the metaphysics of time, an important contrast is between the [[A series and B series|A-series and the B-series]]. According to the A-series theory, the [[flow of time]] is real, meaning that events are categorized into the past, present, and future. The present keeps moving forward in time and events that are in the present now will change their status and lie in the past later. From the perspective of the B-series theory, time is static and events are ordered by the temporal relations earlier-than and later-than without any essential difference between past, present, and future.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Dyke|2002|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=IxIlqbSWg4gC&pg=PA138 138]}} | {{harvnb|Koons|Pickavance|2015|pp=182β185}} | {{harvnb|Carroll|Markosian|2010|pp=160β161}} }}</ref> [[Eternalism (philosophy of time)|Eternalism]] holds that past, present, and future are equally real while according to [[Presentism (philosophy of time)|presentists]], only entities in the present exist.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Carroll|Markosian|2010|pp=179β181}} | {{harvnb|Loux|Crisp|2017|pp=206, 214β215}} | {{harvnb|Romero|2018|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=5wJ2DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA135 135]}} }}</ref> Material objects persist through time and undergo changes in the process, like a tree that grows or loses leaves.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Miller|2018|loc=Lead Section}} | {{harvnb|Costa|loc=Lead Section}} | {{harvnb|Simons|2013|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=ql27m77IveQC&pg=PA166 166]}} }}</ref> The main ways of conceptualizing persistence through time are [[endurantism]] and [[perdurantism]]. According to endurantism, material objects are three-dimensional entities that are wholly present at each moment. As they undergo changes, they gain or lose properties but remain the same otherwise. Perdurantists see material objects as four-dimensional entities that extend through time and are made up of different [[Temporal parts|temporal parts]]. At each moment, only one part of the object is present but not the object as a whole. Change means that an earlier part is qualitatively different from a later part. For example, if a banana ripens then there is an unripe part followed by a ripe part.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Miller|2018|loc=Lead Section}} | {{harvnb|Costa|loc=Lead Section, Β§ 1. Theories of Persistence}} | {{harvnb|Simons|2013|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=ql27m77IveQC&pg=PA166 166]}} | {{harvnb|Hawley|2023|loc=3. Change and Temporal Parts}} }}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page