Skip to main content

Part of the book series: Philosophical Studies Series ((PSSP,volume 87))

  • 257 Accesses

Abstract

Majority opinion among scientists and philosophers of science is against time flow or temporal passage as a property of the physical world. Eddington, writing in 1920, gives an eloquent and poetic statement of the scientific position:

“Events do not happen; they are just there, and we come across them. ‘The formality of taking place’ is merely an indication that the observer has on his voyage of exploration passed into the absolute future of the event in question” (Eddington (1920), p. 51).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Belnap, N. (1992), “Branching Space-Time,” Synthese 92: 385–434.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dummett, M. (1960), “A Defence of McTaggart’s Proof of the Unreality of Time,” The Philosophical Review, 69: 497–504.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eddington, A.S. (1920), Space, Time and Gravitation ( Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Grünbaum, A. (1963), Philosophical Problems of Space and Time (New York: Knopf). Horwich, P. (1987), Asymmetries in Time: Problems in the Philosophy of Science ( Cambridge, MA: MIT Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • McCall, S. (1994), A Model of the Universe: Space-Time, Probability, and Decision ( Oxford: Oxford University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • McCall, S. (1995a), “Time Flow, Non-Locality, and Measurement in Quantum Mechanics,” in Savitt (ed.), Time ‘s Arrows Today ( Cambridge: Cambridge University Press ): 155–172.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • McCall, S. (1995b), “A Branched Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics Which Differs from Everett’s,” in Marion and Cohen (eds.), Quebec Studies in the Philosophy of Science ( Dordrecht: Kluwer ): 229–241.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • McCall, S. (2000), “Towards a Lorentz-Invariant Theory of Collapse,” in Duffy and Wegener (eds.), Recent Advances in Relativity Theory, (papers presented at a conference at the Imperial College, London): 111–122.

    Google Scholar 

  • McTaggart, J. M. E. (1908), “The Unreality of Time,” Mind 17: 457–474.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McTaggart, J. M. E. (1927), The Nature of Existence,vol.I1(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Mellor, D. H. (1981), Real Time, ( Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Ohrstrom, P. and Hasle, P. (1995), Temporal Logic: From Ancient Ideas to Artificial Intelligence ( Dordrecht: Kluwer).

    Google Scholar 

  • Prior, A. N. (1967), Past, Present and Future, ( Oxford: Oxford University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, Q. (1994), “The Truth Conditions of Tensed Sentences,” in Oaklander and Smith (eds.), The New Theory of Time ( New Haven: Yale University Press ): 69–76.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2001 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

McCall, S. (2001). Time Flow. In: Oaklander, L.N. (eds) The Importance of Time. Philosophical Studies Series, vol 87. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-3362-5_11

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-3362-5_11

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-90-481-5841-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-017-3362-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics