Research Seminar in Decision and Action Theory: Lucas Champollion (NYU)

Title:

Indexicality, determinism, and the fixity of the past

Abstract:

I propose a novel approach to the fixity of the past—central to debates about determinism—in which all past propositions are necessary or impossible. The approach is grounded in an indexical interpretation of the past tense operator. This approach draws on a disjunctive definition of necessity due to Chrysippus and adapted to the current framework: a sentence is now necessary if it either (i) expresses a true proposition whenever uttered, or (ii) if uttered, expresses a proposition that is now true and can never become false. On this view, past tense operators are treated indexically, meaning “at some time before the utterance time.” Accordingly, if a sentence of the form “Past(p)” is now true, it is necessary in virtue of (ii): the proposition it expresses is timelessly true and irrevocable. Conversely, if “Past(p)” is now false, it is impossible. This applies even to sentences like “This was my last cigarette” or “It was once the case that it would once be the case that there is a sea battle,” whose truth depends on future events. Nonetheless, the view avoids modal collapse: sentences not of the form “Past(p)” can remain contingent. 

The seminar will take place from 10 to 12 s.t. (please note the start at 10:00) in the MCMP’s larger seminar room (Ludwigstr. 31 / 021).

The seminar will be held in person, but here is a Zoom link for remote participation:
https://lmu-munich.zoom.us/j/93279453658?pwd=MGRkZ1lOYTVtK2tleWVHbFZ4UFNzZz09