The Growing-Block View - (Mind, Meaning and Metaphysics) by Graeme Forbes (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

What makes time interesting and what is time? Graeme A. Forbes presents a robust defence of the metaphysical asymmetry between past and future, providing a compelling argument for the acceptance of the Growing-Block view.

Taking us from the armchair to philosophy of physics, and then out to the human world Forbes considers the ontological questions that have been the focus of most of the literature on the metaphysics of time.

Across three parts, he addresses questions central to the philosophy of time. Part I asks why we should think that time does something that space does not; Part II examines why we should think that the past differs in some metaphysically interesting way from the future and Part III shows why we should accept the Growing-Block view - the view on which the past exists, the future doesn't, and the passage of time is causation bringing about events in accordance with the laws of nature.

This wide-ranging and engaging exploration of persistence, experience, agency, and more, makes a radical contribution to our understanding of the philosophy of time.

Review Quotes

A leading defender of the metaphysics of the growing block, Forbes presents a thorough and insightful discussion of the theory. His distinctive understanding of change, with its implications for metaphysics, epistemology (and beyond!), makes this book a must-read for anyone working in the field.
Nikk Effingham, Professor of Philosophy, University of Birmingham, UK

An honest, vigourous, systematic attempt to grasp that fundamental and most knotty human experience: time. From McTchange to the methodologies time theorists should employ, this thoughtful defence of the growing block rewards study.
Emily Thomas, Professor of Philosophy, Durham University, UK

Forbes' book is an excellent and original inquiry into the nature of time, examining what time means for our lives while also emphasizing the importance of empirical approaches. I highly recommend it to anyone interested not only in philosophy of time but in any deep and serious philosophical investigation.
Giuliano Torrengo, Associate Professor of Philosophy, University of Milan, Italy

About the Author

Graeme A Forbes is an Honorary Senior Lecturer at the University of Kent, UK.