Newsletter of Phenomenology

Keeping phenomenologists informed since May 2002

211311

Springer, Dordrecht

2019

287 Pages

ISBN 978-3-030-15946-7

The Frontiers Collection

The reality of time flow

local becoming in modern physics

It is commonly held that there is no place for the 'now" in physics, and also that the passing of time is something subjective, having to do with the way reality is experienced but not with the way reality is. Indeed, the majority of modern theoretical physicists and philosophers of physics contend that the passing of time is incompatible with modern physical theory, and excluded in a fundamental description of physical reality. This book provides a forceful rebuttal of suchclaims. In successive chapters the author explains the historical precedents of the modern opposition to time flow, giving careful expositions of matters relevant to becoming in classical physics, the special and general theories of relativity, and quantum theory, without presupposing prior expertise in these subjects. Analysing the arguments of thinkers ranging from Aristotle, Russell, and Bergson to the proponents of quantum gravity, he contends that the passage of time, understood as a local becoming of events out of those in their past at varying rates, is not only compatible with the theories of modern physics, but implicit in them. 

Publication details

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-15948-1

Full citation:

(2019). The reality of time flow: local becoming in modern physics, Springer, Dordrecht.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Richard T. W. Arthur; W. Brian Arthur ;

1-8

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The problem of time in classical philosophy

Richard T. W. Arthur; W. Brian Arthur ;

9-35

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Modern objections to time's passage

Richard T. W. Arthur; W. Brian Arthur ;

37-68

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Classical physics and becoming

Richard T. W. Arthur; W. Brian Arthur ;

69-107

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Special relativity and the lapse of time

Richard T. W. Arthur; W. Brian Arthur ;

109-137

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Relativity and the present

Richard T. W. Arthur; W. Brian Arthur ;

139-178

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Time in general relativity

Richard T. W. Arthur; W. Brian Arthur ;

179-217

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Becoming in quantum theory

Richard T. W. Arthur; W. Brian Arthur ;

219-262

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Conclusion

Richard T. W. Arthur; W. Brian Arthur ;

263-267

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