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Four dimensionalism is an ontological view concerned with how objects persist in time. The proponents of four dimensionalism claim that both past and future objects lay equal claims to having the same level of reality as does the present moment. Therefore, if any object ‘x’ is a past reality, then the past object ‘y’ is equally as real as the present object. The same line of thinking applies for any future object. If any future object ‘y’ is a future reality, then the future object ‘y’ is equally as real as any present object.

Four dimensionalism is commonly expressed by means of a spatial analogue. For an object to have spatial extension, it must have different parts at different locations in space. Temporal parts are spread through time in the same way a spatial dimension is subdivided, such as football field into yards. Just as objects are extended in space, objects are conceptualized as being extended in time.

One who believes in extended Mereological simples (from the Greek word μέρος; méros, "part"), maintains that objects do not consist of parts. The view which maintains that objects are wholly present at every moment of their existence is called endurantism. This is in contrast to perdurantism, which maintains that objects are not wholly present at every moment of their existence. Whether or not four dimensionalism applies to both objects and events is a hotly-debated topic among philosophers of time.

The concept of four dimensionalism is in direct contrast to presentism, which asserts that only the present moment exists. The past and future are viewed as illusions of the mind. Eternalism, which also stands in contrast to presentism, asserts that both things in the past and things yet to exist are eternally real. Both of these concepts are exemplified by the A-series and B-series in the work of J.M.E. McTaggart.

In Popular Culture

Four dimensionalism is a key concept in Kurt Vonnegut's book, Slaughterhouse-five. In the book, Tralfamadorians are an alien species that can see time.

External links

• Brown, C.L., 2006, "What is Space?" A philosophical, largely Wittgensteinian, approach towards a dissolution of the question: "What is space?"
• Rea, M. C., "Four Dimensionalism" in The Oxford Handbook for Metaphysics. Oxford Univ. Press. Describes presentism and four dimensionalism.

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