Persistence and Change
An object can be bent at one time and straight at another, yet seem to be one and the same object. This topic asks how things persist through change and whether they have temporal parts.
Definition
Persistence is the existence of one and the same object at different times; the debate concerns whether objects endure by being wholly present at each time or perdure by having distinct temporal parts.
Scope
Covers endurantism, perdurantism, and the stage view; the problem of temporary intrinsics; the relation between persistence and theories of time; and puzzles of coincidence and change such as the statue and the clay.
Core questions
- How can a thing have incompatible properties at different times yet remain one thing?
- Are objects wholly present at each moment, or extended in time by temporal parts?
- How does persistence connect to presentism and eternalism?
- How should puzzles of material coincidence be resolved?
Key concepts
- Endurance
- Perdurance
- Temporal parts
- Stage theory
- Temporary intrinsics
- Material coincidence
Key theories
- Endurantism
- Objects endure by being wholly present at each time at which they exist; change is the having of different properties at different times, with no temporal parts.
- Perdurantism
- Objects perdure by having distinct temporal parts at the different times they exist; a persisting thing is a four-dimensional whole, which Lewis argues dissolves the problem of temporary intrinsics.
- Stage theory
- On Hawley's and Sider's stage view, ordinary objects are momentary stages, and persistence is analyzed through counterpart-like relations among stages at different times.
History
The persistence debate sharpened in the late twentieth century around Lewis's problem of temporary intrinsics, which he used to argue for temporal parts. Sider and Hawley developed sophisticated four-dimensionalist and stage-theoretic positions, while endurantists defended the wholly-present view against them.
Debates
- Endurance versus perdurance
- Perdurantists argue that temporal parts best explain change and coincidence; endurantists reply that objects are wholly present at each time and that temporal parts misdescribe ordinary persistence.
Key figures
- David Lewis
- Theodore Sider
- Katherine Hawley
- Peter van Inwagen
- Sally Haslanger
Related topics
Seminal works
- sider2001
- hawley2001
Frequently asked questions
- What is the problem of temporary intrinsics?
- It is the puzzle of how one object can have incompatible intrinsic properties, such as being bent and being straight, at different times. Perdurantists answer that different temporal parts bear the properties; endurantists relativize property possession to times.