SR and the B-theory

pp. 3-34

in: William L. Craig, The tenseless theory of time, Berlin, Springer, 2000

Abstract

In Part I of our inquiry we wish to consider the principal arguments typically adduced on behalf of a tenseless or B-Theory of time. The reader may be surprised to find no mention of McTaggart's Paradox. This is because McTaggart's famous argument is, as I understand it, primarily an argument against the reality of tense and, hence, an A-Theory of time. Rather than being a positive demonstration of the B-Theory, it attempts to show the logical incoherence of the tensed theory and so is best considered as an objection to the A-Theory of time. Accordingly, I have discussed it as such in my companion volume The Tensed Theory of Time: a Critical Examination. In this volume we wish to consider arguments which seek to demonstrate more positively the truth of a B-Theory of time.