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1

FULFILLING RUSSELL’S WISH: A.N. PRIOR AND THE RESURGENCE OF PHILOSOPHICAL THEOLOGY

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Jakobsen D.

Organon F. medzinárodný časopis pre analytickú filozofiu

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2023

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vol. 30

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issue 1

32 – 52

EN

Wolterstorff (2009) provides an important explanation to the question: What caused the surprising resurgence of philosophical theology that has occurred over the last 50 years—a resurgence that rivals its zenith in the Middle Ages? Recent discoveries in Arthur Norman Prior’s correspondence with J.J.C Smart and Mary Prior, between November 1953 and August 1954 on the possibility of necessary existence, demonstrates the importance of Prior’s discussion of the Barcan formulae in Time and Modality (1957) for the resurgence of analytic theology. The correspondence establishes that Prior’s discovery of tense-logic, and his discussion of quantified tense-logic constituted the perfect opportunity for him to challenge key anti-metaphysical assumptions in analytic philosophy, from which four important consequences can be drawn for the resurgence of philosophical theology. First, Prior’s discussion of time and existence challenged the idea of Russell (1945) and Findlay (1948) on the logical status of a necessary existing being. Second, the discussion challenged the Analytic school’s view of analysis and gave Prior the opportunity to introduce a different perspective on the relationship between logic and metaphysics. Third, it gave Prior a good opportunity to demonstrate that the then-prevailing attitude towards medieval logic was wrong. Fourth, it made it possible for Prior to demonstrate that the highly surprising metaphysical conclusions of quantified tense-logic brings modern logicians into a discussion with the theologically minded medieval logicians.

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PRIOR AND TICHÝ’S CONCEPTS OF TEMPORALISM

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Rybaříková Z.

Organon F. medzinárodný časopis pre analytickú filozofiu

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2022

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vol. 29

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issue 4

453–468

EN

At the beginning of modern logic, propositions were defined as unchangeable entities placed in a certain idealistic realm. These unchangeable propositions contain in themselves so-called indexical, i.e. the place, time and other circumstances of the utterance. This concept of the proposition, which is entitled eternalism, was and is still prevalent among analytic philosophers. Often even the term ‘proposition’ is identified with an idealistic entity located outside the real world. In my paper, I would like to focus on the concept of propositions of two logicians who deviated from the standard understanding of propositions, Arthur N. Prior and Pavel Tichý. They were both proponents of temporalism, i.e. the view that propositions could change their truth-value over time. The paper will discuss the reasons why they were proponents of temporalism and compare their views. It claims that in Prior’s case, his metaphysical views were the main reasons he was a proponent of temporalism. In contrast, when Tichý presented his arguments for temporalism, he focused primarily on natural language.

3

HIGHLIGHTS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF TENSE-LOGIC

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Øhrstrøm P.

Organon F. medzinárodný časopis pre analytickú filozofiu

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2023

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vol. 30

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issue 1

5 - 31

EN

For the first time Arthur Norman Prior presented his ideas of tense-logic1 on the 27th August in 1954. He developed the field further in many publications until his death in 1969. His books Time and Modality (1957a), Past, Present and Future (1967), and Papers on Time and Tense (1968) were clearly vital milestones. Much of Prior’s personal motivation had to do with his struggle with the logical tension between the theological doctrines of divine foreknowledge and human freedom. It turned out that tense-logic gave rise to a powerful tool for dealing with this and similar problems. Furthermore, important highlights in Prior’s tense-logic were the development of branching time and the introduction of instant propositions (leading to what has later been called ‘hybrid logic’). Since Prior’s death, many further developments of formal tense logic and its semantics have been presented and carefully investigated. In philosophical logic, many researchers have focused on discussions regarding ‘the true future’ and the notion of ‘the thin red line’.

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3 Organon F. medzinárodný časopis pre analytickú filozofiu

1 Jakobsen D.

1 Rybaříková Z.

1 Øhrstrøm P.

2 2023

1 2022

FULFILLING RUSSELL’S WISH: A.N. PRIOR AND THE RESURGENCE OF PHILOSOPHICAL THEOLOGY

PRIOR AND TICHÝ’S CONCEPTS OF TEMPORALISM

HIGHLIGHTS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF TENSE-LOGIC