Single Idea 14730

[catalogued under 9. Objects / E. Objects over Time / 5. Temporal Parts]

Full Idea

My four-dimensionalism implies the existence of temporal parts, but not that those parts are more fundamental, nor that the object is 'constructed' from its parts, nor that identity over time is reducible to parts.

Gist of Idea

Temporal parts exist, but are not prior building blocks for objects

Source

Theodore Sider (Four Dimensionalism [2001], 3.2)

Book Reference

Sider,Theodore: 'Four Dimensionalism' [OUP 2003], p.60


A Reaction

That's a rather negative account of temporal parts, which makes you ask what their positive role could be. Do they contribute anything to our understanding of a temporally extended object?