Daniel Berntson: "Optimism, Eternalism, and the Tensed Multiverse"

Daniel Berntson, Uppsala universitet: "Optimism, Eternalism, and the Tensed Multiverse"

Abstract
A possible world is best if it is at least as good as every other possible world. Are there any such worlds? An optimist says yes. A pessimist says no. In this talk, I defend optimism by developing a new theory in the philosophy of time, one on which we are living in what I call the tensed multiverse. The tensed multiverse is indefinitely extensible, in the sense that there is no such thing as all the lives that contribute to its value. This feature, I claim, makes room for optimism.