The Structure of Time

ISBN-13: 9781138394018 / Angielski / Twarda / 2018 / 272 str.

W. H. Newton-Smith

Opis

Originally published in 1980. What is time? How is its structure determined? The enduring controversy about the nature and structure of time has traditionally been a diametrical argument between those who see time as a container into which events are placed, and those for whom time cannot exist without events. This controversy between the absolutist and the relativist theories of time is a central theme of this study. The author's impressive arguments provide grounds for rejecting both these theories, firstly by establishing that ‘empty’ time is possible, and secondly by showing, through a discussion of the structure of time which involves considering whether time might be cyclical, branching, beginning or non-beginning, that the absolutist theory of time is untenable. This book then advances two new theories, and succeeds in shifting the traditional debate about time to a consideration of time as a theoretical structure and as a theoretical framework.

Spis treści

Preface  1. The Nature of Time  2. Time and Change  3. The Topology of Time I: The Linearity of Time  4. The Topology ofTime II: The Unity of Time  5. The Topology of Time III: The Beginning of Time  6. The Topology of Time IV: The Micro-aspects  7. The Metric of Time  8. The Special Theory of Relativity  9. The Direction of Time  10. Towards a Positive Theory.  Appendix: Properties of Relations

O autorze

W. H. Newton-Smith