ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the notion of timelessness as it relates to the idea of a person. It discusses a critical comment about the idea of a timeless knower. A timeless being could not deliberate, anticipate, or remember. It could not speak or write a letter, nor could it produce sounds or written words on a piece of paper. Surely it is a necessary condition of anything's being a person that it should be capable of, among other things, doing at least some of the following: remembering, anticipating, reflecting, deliberating, deciding, intending, and acting intentionally. In order to count as a person, Robert Coburn says, an individual must be able to perform at least some of the mental activities mentioned. For Coburn, the centre of the concept of a person seems to be located in the idea of mental ability.
