Presentism as an empirical hypothesis

Within philosophy of physics it is broadly accepted that presentism as an empirical hypothesis has been falsified by the development of special relativity. In this article, I identify and reject an assumption common to both presentists and advocates of the block universe and then offer an alternative version of presentism that does not begin from spatiotemporal structure, which is an empirical hypothesis, and which has yet to be falsified.While some features of familiar presentism are lost, a sufficient core remains to warrant the label (though I fear that labeling it "presentism" dooms the view). © 2013 by the Philosophy of Science Association. All rights reserved.

Duke Scholars

Author Katherine A. Brading Philosophy