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Becoming: A modest proposal

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Abstract

In this paper I attempt a new approach to an old technical term: ‘becoming’. I show how the theory that becoming is coming-to-be could be supported by a semantic derivation of the nominalization ‘becoming’ from its verbal counterpart, by investigating the properties of the present progressive constructions in which ‘becoming’ as a verbal appears. My theory denies that dates, or qualitative change, play an essential role in the analysis of becoming.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. McGill University, Canada

    James A. McGilvray

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  1. James A. McGilvray
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McGilvray, J.A. Becoming: A modest proposal. Philosophical Studies 30, 161–170 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00355272

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00355272

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