The problem of the ontological status of past, present and future tenses in contemporary philosophy of time

This thesis aims to determine the role and importance of the problem of the ontological status of the past, present, and future tenses within the framework of the analytical philosophy of time and determine the place of relevant discussions within the discipline of philosophy, the field of philosophy of time and the history of philosophy. In order to achieve its aim, the thesis asks "From the perspective of the history of philosophy, for what purpose and in which ways do the discussion within the contemporary analytic philosophy of time in the history of philosophy, which is about the ontological status of the past, present, and future tenses – which are called as 'tense-times' in this thesis- and the ontological status of the entities that are temporally identified by these tenses?". The thesis discusses these problems in order to reveal the historical foundations in general, mainly reading the discussions through early contemporary philosophy of time, by following an empiricist understanding -that follows Lockean empiricism more than others- generally referred to as "the Enlightenment Project" in the thesis that advocates "non-transcendent" structures to be effective instead of "transcendent" ones, "Modern Science" as a product or extension of this project, and the attitude of "Scientistic Realism" which is endorsed by the project for some time. The purpose of this discussion is to introduce a framework of contemporary philosophy of time within the history of philosophy. It is attempted to develop an understanding and then, interpret the answers to the question "Are there or are there any tenses/tense-times or entities that are temporally identified by these tenses/tense-times?" by the ideas that are examined in the thesis in order to provide an answer to the research question, and organized for the purpose of providing the mentioned philosophical-historical framework.