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...

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Published in:Philosophical Quarterly Vol. 70; no. 279; pp. 385 - 407
Main Author: Turner, Jason
Format: Article
Published: Oxford University Press / USA Apr2020
Subjects:
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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        au: Turner, Jason
        affil: University of Arizona, USA
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        Metaphysics
        Presentism (Philosophy)
        Geometry
        Blocks (Group theory)
        Vietnam War, 1961-1975
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          Metaphysics
          Presentism (Philosophy)
          Geometry
          Blocks (Group theory)
          Vietnam War, 1961-1975
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        A-Theory
        growing block
        moving spotlight
        presentism
        relativity
      ab: 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.
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