G E Moore’s Time Realism: Presentism, A-Theory, and the Ghost of Henry Sidgwick

Thomas, Emily

Abstract

The 'new realist' G E Moore is hardly known as a metaphysician of time, yet I argue his 1910-11 lectures, later published as Some Main Problems of Philosophy , offer the first substantial English-language defence of presentism and the A-theory. This paper contextualises Moore's positions, stressing his intellectual connections with J M E McTaggart and Bertrand Russell; explores his Common Sense metaphysics of time; and argues that his time realism owes a great debt to 'old realist' Henry Sidgwick.

Citation

Thomas, E. (2023). G E Moore’s Time Realism: Presentism, A-Theory, and the Ghost of Henry Sidgwick. Gavin David Young: Lectures in Philosophy, 14, 1-33. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13772495

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 26, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Sep 24, 2024
• Publication Date: 2023-07
• Deposit Date: Nov 4, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 4, 2024
• Journal: Gavin David Young: Lectures in Philosophy
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 14
• Pages: 1-33
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13772495
• Keywords: History of analytic philosophy; Moore; Sidgwick; Russell; McTag- gart; A-theory; B-theory; presentism
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/3080864