Time and Physical Geometry. A Formalization of Putnam’s Proof

Jan Czerniawski

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12775/LLP.2019.021

Abstract


Putnam’s proof that time flow is incompatible with Relativity is underestimated, mostly due to Stein’s interpretation of the notion of reality in it as a two-term relation. This interpretation makes it vulnerable to easy criticism and makes various ways of escaping its conclusion possible. An alternative approach is proposed, resulting in a formalization which seems closer to Putnam’s intentions where reality is interpreted as a non-relational property. Although it makes the proof immune to all standard strategies of blocking the proof, it reveals its real weak point which consists in assuming an overly strong interpretation of the principle of relativity.

Keywords


time flow; eternalism; relativity; simultaneity; spacetime

Full Text:

PDF

References


Bell, J.S., “How to teach special relativity”, pages 67–80 in J.S. Bell, Speakable and Unspeakable in Quantum Mechanics, Cambridge, Cambridge Univ. Press, 2004. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511815676.011

Carter, B., “Causal structure in space-time”, General Relativity and Gravitation 1, 4 (1971): 349–391. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00759217

Czerniawski, J., “Teoria względności a upływ czasu”, Filozofia Nauki 2, 1 (1994): 95–100.

Czerniawski, J., “Nowa formalizacja dowodu Putnama, że czas nie płynie”, Filozofia Nauki 22, 1 (2014): 45–57.

Davies, P.C.W, and J.S. Bell, “John Bell” (interview with), pages 45–57 in P.C.W. Davies and J.R. Brown (eds.), The Ghost in the Atom: A Discussion of the Mysteries of Quantum Physics, Cambridge, Cambridge Univ. Press, 1986.

Denbigh, K., Three Concepts of Time, Berlin, Springer, 1981. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-68082-3

Dieks, D., “Special relativity and the flow of time”, Philosophy of Science 55, 3 (1988): 456-460. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/289452

Eilstein, H., “Prof. Shimony on “the transient Now””, Synthese 107, 2 (1996): 223–247. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00413607

Forrest, P., “The real but dead past: a reply to Braddon-Mitchell”, Analysis 64, 4 (2004): 358–62. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/analys/64.4.358

Hinchliff, M., “The puzzle of change”, Noûs 30 (Supplement) (1996): 119–16. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2216239

James, W., The Principles of Psychology, vol. 1, London, MacMillan, 1891.

Lorentz, H.A., “The principle of relativity for uniform translations (1910–1912)”, pages 179–211 in H.A. Lorentz, Lectures on Theoretical Physics, vol. 3, London, MacMillan, 1931.

Maudlin, T., The Metaphysics Within Physics, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2007. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199218219.001.0001

Putnam, H., “Time and physical geometry”, Journal of Philosophy 64, 8 (1967): 240–247. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2024493

Putnam, H., “Reply to Mauro Dorato”, European Journal of Analytic Philosophy 4, 2 (2008): 71–73.

Sarkar, S., and J. Stachel, “Did Malament prove the non-conventionality of simultaneity in the special theory of relativity?”, Philosophy of Science 66, 2 (1999): 208–220. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/392684

Savitt, S., “The transient nows”, in W. Myrvold and J. Christian (eds.), Quantum Reality, Relativistic Causality, and Closing the Epistemic Circle: Essays in Honour of Abner Shimony, Berlin, Springer, 2009. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9107-0_18

Sider, T., Writing the Book of the World, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2011. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199697908.001.0001

Stein, H., “On Einstein-Minkowski space-time”, Journal of Philosophy 65, 1 (1968): 5–23. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2024512




Bookmark and Share




ISSN: 1425-3305 (print version)

ISSN: 2300-9802 (electronic version)

Partnerzy platformy czasopism