The most important debate between twentieth-century philosophers of time has been whether events that have happened, are happening, or will happen are equally real (the tenseless theory of time) or whether there is a fundamental distinction between past, present, and future, with only present events possessing full existence (the tensed theory). In the 1980s a new version of the tenseless theory of time emerged. While advocates still posit that all events are equally real, they depart from the old tenseless theory by conceding that tensed expressions cannot be translated into tenseless ones, and support their view of time using other arguments. This anthology offers the latest turns in the debate over the new theory of time, with essays written by many of the most prominent contemporary thinkers in the philosophy of time. There are discussions on the role—or nonrole—of language in determining which theory is true; McTaggart's paradox and the logical difficulties that defenders of the tenseless theory say are inherent in tensed theory; and the nature of our experience of time, which proponents of both theories claim can now be explained. The preface and the general introduction to the book set the debate within the wider philosophical context and show why the subject of temporal becoming is a perennial concern of science, religion, language, logic, and the philosophy of mind.

Table of Contents:
lntroduction: The Implications of the Tensed and Tenseless Theories of Time. Part 1 Time and Tensed Sentences: Introduction - The Old and New Tenseless Theories of Time, Quentin Smith; The Need for Tense, D.H. Mellor; Problems with the New Tenseless Theory of Time, Quentin Smith; A Defence of the New Tenseless Theory of Time, Nathan Oaklander; The Truth Conditions of Tensed Sentences, Quentin Smith; The New Tenseless Theory of Time - A Reply to Smith, Nathan Oaklander; Smart and Mellor's New Tenseless Theory of Time - A Reply to Oaklander, Quentin Smith; Temporal Indexicals and the Passage of Time, Michelle Beer; The Co-Reporting Theory of Tensed and Tenseless Sentences, Quentin Smith; The Date Analysis of Tensed Sentences, Clifford Williams; Williams's Defence of the New Tenseless Theory of Time, Quentin Smith; Demonstratives, David Kaplan; Temporal Indexicals, Quentin Smith. Part 2 McTaggart's Paradox and the Passage of Time: Introduction - McTaggart's Paradox and the Tensed Theory of Time, Nathan Oaklander; The Unreality of Tense, D.H. Mellor; Mellor and McTaggart's Paradox, Quentin Smith; The Infinite Regress of Temporal Attributions, Quentin Smith; McTaggart's Paradox and the Infinite Regress of Temporal Attributions - A Reply to Smith, Nathan Oaklander; The Logical Structure of the Debate about McTaggart's Paradox, Quentin Smith; McTaggart's Paradox Revisited, Nathan Oaklander; Temporal Beginning, George Schlesinger; McTaggart, Schlesinger, and the Two-Dimensional Time Hypothesis, Nathan Oaklander; How to Navigate the River of Time, George Schlesinger; A Reply to Schlesinger, Nathan Oaklander; Temporal Becoming Minus the Moving Now, David Zeilicovici; Zeilicovici on Temporal Becoming, Nathan Oaklander; The Stream of Time, George Schlesinger. Part 3 Time and Experience: Introduction - The Problem of our Experience of Time, Nathan Oaklander; "Thank Goodness That's Over", D.H. Mellor; Mellor's Emeritus Headache, Murray MacBeath; MacBeath's Soluble Aspirin, D.H. Mellor; "Thank Goodness That's Over" Revisited, B.J. Garrett; Not Over Yet - Prior's "Thank Goodness" Argument, D.K. Lewis; "Thank Goodness It's Over", Nathan Oaklander; Passage and the Presence of Experience, H. Scott Hestevold; On the Experience of Tenseless Time, Nathan Oaklander; The Phenomenology of A-Time, Quentin Smith; The Phenomenology of B-Time, Clifford Williams.