PhilosophersArthur Prior
Arthur Prior
A logician who defends the view that time really passes and who founded tense logic.
Analytic philosophy1914 · 1969 NZMasterton (New Zealand)
Life
New Zealand logician and philosopher (1914-1969), professor at Manchester then Oxford. He founded tense logic, which treats past, present and future formally, and argues that time really passes: only the present exists. His ideas have also served in discussing divine foreknowledge and free will.
Main works
1957
Time and Modality
The first systems of tense logic.
1967
Past, Present and Future
A logic of time tied to a philosophical thesis: only the present is real.
Positions
click a row to see the evidenceAre we truly free?Freedom
Determinism (no free will)Free will
Interpretation
He held that the future is not yet settled, which leaves room for open, undetermined choices.
Prior, Past, Present and Future (1967)