Mental time travel: Towards a computational account

Authors

  • César Fernando Meurer Universidade Federal de Uberlândia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4013/fsu.2018.191.08

Abstract

The paper aims to highlight similarities between computational routines of mentally traveling the present time, on the one hand, and routines of mentally traveling other times, on the other hand. The first and second sections, in which I lay out an eternalist view of the world and the massive modularity account of the architecture of the human mind, are intended to set the stage. Subsequently, I clarify the idea that we mentally travel the present. This explanation resorts to a cognitive mechanism I have proposed elsewhere. Finally, I submit that a similar computational routine takes place when we travel other times, be they earlier or later than the present moment.

Keywords: eternalism, modularity, episodic memory, four-dimensionalism.

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Published

2018-08-16

How to Cite

MEURER, C. F. Mental time travel: Towards a computational account. Filosofia Unisinos / Unisinos Journal of Philosophy, São Leopoldo, v. 19, n. 1, p. 72–80, 2018. DOI: 10.4013/fsu.2018.191.08. Disponível em: https://www.revistas.unisinos.br/index.php/filosofia/article/view/fsu.2018.191.08. Acesso em: 23 may. 2025.

Issue

Vol. 19 No. 1 (2018): Jan-Apr

Section

Dossier

License

I grant the Filosofia Unisinos – Unisinos Journal of Philosophy the first publication of my article, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution license 4.0 (which allows sharing of work, recognition of authorship and initial publication in this journal).

I confirm that my article is not being submitted to another publication and has not been published in its entirely on another journal. I take full responsibility for its originality and I will also claim responsibility for charges from claims by third parties concerning the authorship of the article.