Time and the Ontology of the Future

Abstract

Ontology is the philosophical inquiry into what exists, and whether or not the phenomenon under consideration exists. The ontology of the future, then, means an examination of the nature and existence of the future. To inquire into the ontology of the future is not to ask “what is the future?” or “what will happen in the future?” but to, instead, consider the nature of the container that is the future. Is the future a kind of container of events? Is it a space that contains all future happenings? If so, this implies that the future already exists, like a distant land toward which we might travel. Perhaps the future is a container that holds only potential occurrences, and is thus not fully in existence. The future might not exist at all, as there are no preexisting occurrences and, thus, nothing to contain such occurrences. The future is a void, and only comes into existence when we experience it, but there is nothing that preexists. The future might already exist because it is a repetition of events that have previously occurred. The goal of the present article is to situate the problem of the ontology of the future within a wider historical context. It has been a commonplace since the Scientific Revolution to view time as linear and the future as an ontologically existent realm linked to past and present. Our understanding of the ontology of the future has a history, meaning that there have been differing ideas about the nature and existence of the future. Generally speaking, how a society understands the shape of time frequently determines how that society views the reality of the future. There is every reason to expect that our view of the nature and actuality of the future will change alongside changes in our understanding of time.