1. For a presentation and intriguing discussion of the distinctions between the alternatives mentioned in (2), see Tim Maudlin'sQuantum Non-Locality and Relativity: Metaphysical Intimations of Modern Physics(Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 2002).
2. AnalysisVol. 62, No. 3, (2002): 203–205.
3. For the enthusiast, here are the principles in question: [Note: (4D) is borrowed with modification from Ted Sider's excellent bookFour-Dimensionalism(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2001).] (DAUP) Necessarily, for any material object,x, and regions,ss*. ifsis the regionxexactly occupies, and ifs* is any exactly occupiable subregion ofs, then there exists a material object,y, such that (i)yexactly occupiess*, and (ii)yis a part ofx. (4D) Necessarily, for any object,x, and for any non-empty, non-overlapping sets of times,t1 andt2 whose union is the set of times at whichxis present [=TS(x)], there are two objects,x1 andx2, such that (i)xis the fusion ofx1 andx2, and (ii) TS(x1) =t1, whereas the TS(x2) =t2. (UC) Necessarily, for any material objects,the xs, there exists a material object,y, such thatthe xscomposey. (MO) Necessarily, (a material object,x, is in motion during an extended intervalt, if (i) at every instant int, xoccupies a region of space, and (ii) at no two instants intdoesxoccupy the same region of space). One other note: as will be readily seen in the sequel, non-modally qualified and relativistically-sensitive principles—which are considerably more modest than (DAUP), (4D), and (UC) in yet other respects—would drive the argument just as well, but since I endorse the full-strength versions, I include them here.
4. ‘Temporal Parts and Superluminal Motion,’Philosophical Papers(this issue). Balashov makes a number of other points as well, including contesting my claim about ‘Quick's not moving backwards in time’—on which he was right (and kind about it) and I was wrong. But I must be selective in this reply.
5. Again, borrowing from Sider's (2001), let us say that ‘xis an instantaneous temporal part ofyat instantt’ =df(i)xis a part ofy(ii)xis present at, but only at,t, and (iii)xoverlaps every part ofythat is present att.