Eternalism and perspectival realism about the `now'

DOI10.1007/S10701-020-00385-XMaRDI QIDQ828374zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Authors Matias Slavov

Publication date 8 January 2021

Published in Foundations of Physics (Search for Journal in Brave)

Copyright license Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/2009.09665

zbMATH Keywords

special relativityphilosophy of timetruthmakingeternalismfragmentalismperspectival realismthe `now'

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Physics (00A79) Special relativity (83A05) Philosophy of mathematics (00A30)

Abstract: Eternalism is the view that all times are equally real. The relativity of simultaneity in special relativity backs this up. There is no cosmically extended, self-existing 'now'. This leads to a tricky problem. What makes statements about the present true? I shall approach the problem along the lines of perspectival realism and argue that the choice of the perspective does. To corroborate this point, the Lorentz transformations of special relativity are compared to the structurally similar equations of the Doppler effect. The 'now' is perspectivally real in the same way as a particular electromagnetic spectrum frequency. I also argue that the ontology of time licensed by perspectival realism is more credible in this context than its current alternative, the fragmentalist interpretation of special relativity.

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Cites work

• scientific article; zbMATH DE number 1520531 (Why is no real title available?)
• scientific article; zbMATH DE number 3266533 (Why is no real title available?)
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Cited in

(6)

• On the possibility of non-eternalism without absolute simultaneity
• Relativistic parts and places: a note on corner slices and shrinking chairs
• scientific article; zbMATH DE number 6423731 (Why is no real title available?)
• The rates of the passing of time, presentism, and the issue of co-existence in special relativity
• Neither presentism nor eternalism
• Presentism remains

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