Temporal Becoming and the A- and B- Theories of Time
It is interesting to note that many of Saint Augustine's concerns about time around 400AD are the same as we have today. For example, Augustine was puzzled about the nature of the distinction between the past, the present and the future. He was also concerned about the nature and status of the apparent flow of time.
In this essay we will consider a much more recent approach to time that came to the fore in the twentieth century. In 1908 James McTaggart published an article in Mind entitled 'The Unreality of Time', in which, as the title implies, he argued that there is in reality no such thing as time. Now although this claim was in itself startling, probably what was even more significant than McTaggart's arguments was his way of stating them. It was in this paper that McTaggart first drew his now standard distinction between two ways of saying when things happen. In this essay we shall outline these ways of describing events and then discuss the merits and demerits of each, and examine what has become known as the 'tensed versus tenseless' debate on temporal becoming.
One way which we speak, experience and conceive of time is that time is something that flows or passes from the future to the present and from the present to the past. When viewed in this way, events which are present have a special existential status. Whatever may be the case with regard to the reality or unreality of events in the future and the past, events that are in the present exist with a capital 'E'. It can then be postulated that it is the 'present' or 'now' that shifts to even later times. If events in time (or moments of time) are conceived in terms of past, present and future, or by means of the tenses, then they form what McTaggart called the A-series (from which the A-theory of time is derived). This type of change is commonly referred to as 'temporal becoming', and gives rise to well known perplexities concerning both what does the shifting and the type of shift involved, which we will discuss later.
On the other hand, we experience events in time as occurring in succession, one after another, and as simultaneous with other events. When viewed in this way, events stand in various different temporal relations to each other but no one event, or set of events, is singled out as having the property of being present or as occurring 'now'.
The Mexican-American War of the 1840s, precipitated by border disputes and the U.S. annexation of Texas, ended with the military occupation of Mexico City by General Winfield Scott. In the subsequent treaty, the United States gained territory that would become California, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and parts of Wyoming and Colorado.
Dupper, David R. , and Amy E. Montgomery Dingus. "Corporal Punishment in U.S. Public Schools : A Continuing Challenge for School Social Workers." Schools and Children 30.4 (2008): 243-250. Print.
In “The Cold Equations”, a short story by Tom Godwin, Godwin did some interesting things with time as he described the unfortunate story of a girl who stowed away illegally on a small spacecraft. The girl, Marilyn, did not know the consequence would be her own death. Unquestionably, in “The Cold Equations,” Tom Godwin manipulated time in order to influence the pace of the plot, because the manipulation and presence of time and deadlines creates suspense, inspires increased interest, and purposefully instills a sense of impending doom. Godwin’s manipulation of time creates suspense. It does this by establishing deadlines that can be imagined in real terms.
These two countries had reached a deal of new boundaries between themselves. Although, Mexico believed the Nueces River was the newly formed border, while America thought the Rio Grande serves as the new border. President James Polk sent a total of sixty three troops to station along the northern banks of the Rio Grande. Now, the Rio Grande was south of the Nueces River. Because the Mexicans believed the Nueces, which was farther north, was the new border, it led them to believe the Americans had “invaded” Mexico, causing confusion, and bloodshed, eventually leading to a declaration of war from the U.S. government. The Mexicans had crossed what America thought was the border, the Rio Grande. James Polk issued a declaration of war with Mexico after hearing his troops were being killed, due to a “Mexican invasion” (Doc G). While James Polk believed Mexico had invaded Texas, now a part of the Union, the Mexican Republic believed American troops were at fault for invading Mexico. Rumors spread throughout both countries of the other invading. The Mexicans had formerly offered peace, yet none was reached, continuing on to the war. Confusion of new borderlines and “invasions” of troops spread causing more conflict between America and Mexico, which was one of the major causes of the Mexican War.
Tunstall, L. (2009). Homelessness: an overview. EBSCO Publishing Service Selection Page. Retrieved February 5, 2011, from http://web.ebscohost.com/pov/detail?hid=119&sid=d5f751fa-0d0d-4ed1-8deb-483e701af50c%40sessionmgr111&vid=3&bdata=Jmxhbmc9ZW4tY2Emc2l0ZT1wb3YtY2Fu#db=p3h&AN=28674966
John McTaggart in his essay “Time” presents a radical argument that claims time is unreal. While the argument is interesting and has attracted much attention for his arguments, I remain unconvinced of the argument he makes. This paper will lay out McTaggart’s argument that time in unreal, critically analyze why I believe McTaggart’s argument fails and present an alternative idea about time, utilizing aspects of McTaggart’s argument.
Homelessness in the United States has been an important subject that the government needs to turn its attention to. There has been announced in the news that the number of the homeless people in many major cities in the United States has been increasing enormously. According to United States Interagency Council on Homelessness reported that there was an estimation of 83,170 individuals have experienced chronic homelessness on the streets of the United States’ streets and shelters on only a single night of January 2015, which is a small decrease of only 1% from the previous year (People Experiencing Chronic Homelessness, n.d.). The United States must consider this subject that most of the people underestimate it and not pay attention
"Who Is Homeless?" Nationalhomeless. National Coalition for the Homeless, July 2009. Web. 3 May 2014. .
...te into the Union. The citizens of Texas wanted to break away from Mexican control. President Polk also wanted the territories of California and New Mexico. Unfortunately, Mexico would not sell. The Mexican-American War would wage from 1846 to 1848 with causalities and wounded soldiers on both sides of each nation totaling over 40,000. Some said it was the most unjust war ever waged, and the Civil War that will take place in the future was our punishment for the unholy Mexican War (Tindall & Shi, 2010).
"Overview of Homelessness In America." Homelessness In America. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 May 2014. .
Child abuse prevention must first begin with understanding the different types of abuse. The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) defines abuse as the motive, act, or lack of action of a parent or guardian that leads to a physical or emotional injury (Rein 11-12). Each state defines abuse differently; Pennsylvania defines physical abuse as the recent act or lack of action by a perpetrator causing or risking a serious non-accidental physical injury to a person that is under the age of 18 (Clark 351). Corporal punishment, a controversial topic in physical abuse, is defined as deliberately inflicting physical injury because the child misbehaves. Types of corporal punishment include spanking, slapping, pinching, choking, paddling, or hitting the child with objects (Gerdes 182-190). Part of the debate over physical abuse is whether schools should be able to use physical punishment on their students. Some believe that corporal punishment is the only way to teach children about misbehaving and that a minor pain is justified if it corrects a larger problem (Gerdes 198-201). Others think corporal punishment may lead a child to believe violence is acceptable or to think...
The many causes of the homelessness issue has arisen from global conflict, unemployment increase, education tuition costs rising, and the increase of poverty. Homelessness is affecting all ages, ethnicities, and religions striking in both urban and rural communities. “Just last year, the national poverty rate rose to include 13.2% of the population. 1 in 7 people were at risk of suffering from hunger in the United States. In addition, 3.5 million people were forced to sleep in parks, under bridges, in shelters or cars.”
Time is and endless phenomenon that has no beginning or end, therefore making it infinite. Emily Dickinson proves this point in her poem, Forever – is Composed of Nows, referring to “nows” as more significant than the future (Wilbur 80).
“It was a new discovery to find that these stories were, after all, about our own lives, were not distant, that there was no past or future that all time is now-time, centred in the being.” (Pp39.)
Prior begins by identifying and supporting N.L. Wilson’s account of ‘substance-language’ where, in our everyday speech, we talk about events as they go on and change. In opposition, Prior highlights that mathematical logicians (such as Quine) wrongly promote ‘space-time’ language, where words that we use to describe individuals existing through time are replaced with words describing ‘word-lines’ or ‘life-histories’ of events.