I am going to say that neither time nor space need to have causal power to exist. If they exist, they exist as necessary preconditions.
Space does not cause extension, but it is a necessary precondition for extension.
Space and time are both necessary preconditions for motion. Whether movement is a three-dimensional object being in different places at different times, or a four-dimensional object extended in time as well as space, some sort of time is a necessary precondition. (Preferably a nice time. A lady I met near the docks offered me that.)
And time is also a necessary precondition for processes, even if they aren’t depressing. Process involves change, and change requires different properties at different times.
(The more percipient will notice that I have written the above with no reference to philosophers who lamentably failed to be Scots even though it was obvious that they should be. )
Furthermore, if we do accept that principle, we find it raises problems for Gent’s position.
The patient etherised upon a table is extended in space. But space does not cause the extension.
The unladen swallow, whether European or African, moves through space to boldly go wherever it is swallows are in such a hurry to get to. But space does not cause the movement.
So the principle seems to suggest that neither time nor space exist. And Gent tells us that space does exist. (But there, he also denies that he invades toddler’s dreams.) Well, perhaps they don’t, but until we have a good reason for accepting the principle, we need better arguments for the claim that time is an illusion.
No, I haven’t given up, and, yes, I will come to a conclusion. It will just take a little … er …
I don’t want Gent to feel neglected, so this time (if there is one) I’ll look at one of his arguments. Or, at least, at what I understand to be one of his arguments. I might have missed the point he was trying to make.
As far as I can make out, Gent is inclined to disagree with both Marvell and Milton.* (This is not wrong in itself. Disagreeing with poets is permissible. I don’t always see eye to eye with Milton either.)
Contrary to Marvell, Gent claims that we do have world enough, and it is three dimensional space. (The final frontier.) But not merely is there not enough time, there is no time at all. He further points out – correctly – that Milton is wrong to say that time is the subtle thief of youth. It is the depressing physiological processes that do the job.
(There are four categories of physiological process:
The obstacle course is a typical cat manoeuvre. A cat can walk along a shelf that is full of nasty china ornaments, and not dislodge a single one. No matter how much you want him/her to. Of course, if the cat wants to break one …
Not without an apology.