A priorean approach to time ontologies

Any non-trivial top-level ontology should take temporal notions into account. The details of how this should be done, however, are frequently debated. In this paper it is argued that "the four grades of tense-logical involvement" suggested by A.N. Prior form a useful framework for discussing how various temporal notions are related in a top-level ontology. Furthermore, a number of modern ontologies are analysed with respect to their incorporation of temporal notions. It is argued that all of them correspond to Prior's first and second grade, and that none of them reflect the views which Prior's third and fourth grade represent. Finally, the paper deals with Prior's ideas on a tensed ontology and it is argued that a logic based on the third grade and will be useful in the further development of tensed ontology.