Experience and History: Processes and their Relation to Events

Antony Galton

Journal of Logic and Computation, Volume 18, number 3, 2008, pages 323-340.
doi: 10.1093/logcom/exm079

Abstract

We develop a theory of processes which takes into account the observation that processes differ markedly from events in their relation to change. Whereas events are fixed items of history which cannot be described as undergoing change, processes are more like ordinary objects in that they can be directly present at one time and can undergo change as time proceeds. This leads to a fundamental ontological distinction between EXP, the dynamic experiential world of objects and processes as they exist at one time, and HIST, the static historical overview populated by events that are generated by the ongoing processes in EXP. Formally, this means that terms describing processes can serve as arguments to time-varying predicates, whereas terms describing events cannot. We illustrate this by presenting part of a suitable formalism and using it to give an account of the progressive aspect.