TIME, QUANTUM-MECHANICS, AND TENSE

The relational approach to tense holds that ''the now'', ''passage'', and ''becoming'' are to be understood in terms of relations between ev ents. The debate over the adequacy of this framework is illustrated by a comparative study of the sense in which physical theories, (in)dete rministic and (non)relativistic, can lend expression to the metaphysic s at issue. The objective is not to settle the matter, but to clarify the nature of this metaphysics and to establish that the same issues a re at stake in the relational approach to value-definiteness and proba bility in quantum mechanics. They concern the existence of a unique pr esent, respectively actuality, and a notion of identity over time that cannot be paraphrased in terms of relations.