The Multiple Drafts Model and the Transcendental Argument for Passage

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Date

2011

Disciplines

Arts and Humanities | Philosophy

Advisor

Emily Esch, Philosophy

Abstract

The passage of time remains a central topic of discussion in the debate between the A-theory and B-theory accounts of time. In a recent paper Adrian Bardon offers a transcendental argument for passage, which concludes that the passage of time is necessary for there to be coherent experience, and thus must be included in our concept of time-order, and viewed as a feature of the objective world. In this paper I will first present different conceptions of passage. The remainder of the paper focuses on a critical examination of the transcendental argument for passage offered by Bardon in light of a cognitive theory of temporal ordering, the Multiple Drafts Model proposed by Daniel Dennett. I present this model as a plausible alternative to the passage of time, in that it can account for the necessary components of experience on the preconscious level without an appeal to passage. Finally, I briefly present a concept of time-order that is compatible with the Multiple Drafts Model and also explains our experience of passage.

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