Why Special Relativity is a Problem for the A-Theory.

Neither special nor general relativity make any use of a notion of absolute simultaneity. Since A-Theories about time do make use of such a notion, it is natural to suspect that relativity and A-Theory are inconsistent. Many authors have argued that they are in fact not inconsistent, and I agree wit...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Philosophical Quarterly Vol. 70; no. 279; pp. 385 - 407
Autor principal: Turner, Jason
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Oxford University Press / USA Apr2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
Descripción
Sumario:Neither special nor general relativity make any use of a notion of absolute simultaneity. Since A-Theories about time do make use of such a notion, it is natural to suspect that relativity and A-Theory are inconsistent. Many authors have argued that they are in fact not inconsistent, and I agree with that diagnosis here. But that doesn't mean, as these authors seem to think, that A-Theory and relativity are happy bedfellows. I argue that relativity gives us good reason to reject the A-Theory, even though strict inconsistency isn't that reason.