Presentism
Presentism is the philosophical doctrine that only the present is real, and the past and future are merely concepts used to describe real phenomena.
I. Time
| Extent | Finite |
| Ontological Status | Emergent |
| Grain | Continuous |
| Freedom | Non-Deterministic |
| Traversability | Linear |
| Dimensionality | One |
| Direction | Uni-directional |
Time is emergent and finite — only the present moment is real. The past has ceased to exist and the future does not yet exist; both are mere conceptual extrapolations from the living now. Time is continuous, linear, and uni-directional, but its reality is exhausted by the present instant. Presentism makes time the most metaphysically thin of all dimensions: a single, razor-edge moment of actuality.
II. Space
| Extent | Finite |
| Ontological Status | Emergent |
| Curvature | Flat |
| Dimensionality | Three |
| Locality | Local |
Space is emergent and finite — it exists only in the present moment. Since only the present is real, space is the current spatial configuration of present entities and nothing more. It is flat, local, and three-dimensional, reflecting the ordinary common-sense structure of the world as it exists right now.
III. Matter
| Extent | Finite |
| Ontological Status | Emergent |
| Conservation | Conserved |
| Dimensionality | Three |
| Locality | Local |
Matter is emergent and finite — only presently existing matter is real. Past states of matter no longer exist; future states do not yet exist. Conservation holds in the sense that currently existing matter persists from moment to moment, but the presentist cannot appeal to a permanently existing material substrate stretching across time.
IV. Observer
| Time Instance | Single |
| Space Instance | Single |
| Extent of Knowledge | Immediate |
| Retainment of Knowledge | Immediate |
| Physicality | Embodied |
| Agency | Active |
| Number | Plural |
V. Energy
Energy is emergent and finite — only presently existing energy is real. Conservation holds as a regularity of present experience, but the presentist cannot ground it in an eternal physical law spanning a non-existent past and future. Dispersibility is irreversible within the present flow of experience.
VI. Information
Only present information is real — information about the past no longer exists except as present traces, and information about the future does not yet exist. Information is emergent and non-conserved.