Non-deflationist Explanations of Our Reported Temporal Seemings

Abstract This chapter continues a defence of passage deflationism by building on the work of Chapter 3 in showing that it has a good explanation of our reported experiences, and showing that it is in fact the best explanation. It does so by evaluating the passage non-deflationist’s explanation of this same data, and arguing that it is a poor explanation. Thus, the deflationist’s explanation is superior. The chapter introduces two versions of passage non-deflationism: experiential passage realism which holds that we have veridical experiences of robust passage, and passage illusionism which holds that we have illusory experiences as of robust passage. It then considers two strategies to which the non-deflationist can appeal to explain why variation is found in reports: the differential content strategy and the differential reporting strategy. The chapter argues that regardless of whether one is a passage illusionist or experiential passage realist, neither of these strategies is plausible. Thus, the non-deflationist has a poor explanation for this data.