Denis Seron

My talk is about Brentano's presentism. Brentano's presentism is sometimes regarded as a radical, counterintuitive, and very original view. I would like to challenge that interpretation by providing an alternative reading. In my estimation, Brentano's presentism is just a variant of a widespread view about time, upheld by David Hume and many of his followers, including Kant - a view that I shall call the "ideality of time view." I will first explain what I think should be meant by "presentism." Secondly I will contrast Brentano's with Hume's versions of presentism. And finally I will suggest that the former, despite significant differences, can nonetheless be construed as basically Humean.