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The twins' paradox: Spatiotemporal length, temporal passage, and a presentist view on spacetime

Friebe, Cord (2010) The twins' paradox: Spatiotemporal length, temporal passage, and a presentist view on spacetime. In: UNSPECIFIED.

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Abstract

According to McCall and Lowe (2003) interpreting the twins’ paradox reconciles the A-theorist’s notion of temporal passage or flow with the special theory of relativity. Miller, however, recalls that “the B-theorist never denied that there was temporal passage in some sense of the term” (Miller 2004, 204), and argues convincingly that McCall and Lowe stipulate nothing other than this B-theorist’s sense of temporal succession. But, as I want to show, we need in fact the A-theorist’s or even presentist’s account of temporal passage in the sense of a ‘moving now’ in order to preserve the temporal content of the twins’ paradox. It is essential, I think, that for a temporal understanding of the twins’ paradox proper times and coordinate times have to be combined in a way that only the presentists can cope.


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Item Type: Conference or Workshop Item (UNSPECIFIED)
Creators:
CreatorsEmailORCID
Friebe, Cord
Keywords: Twins' paradox; relativity; presentism
Subjects: Specific Sciences > Physics > Relativity Theory
Depositing User: Cord Friebe
Date Deposited: 01 Jun 2010
Last Modified: 07 Oct 2010 15:19
Item ID: 5377
Subjects: Specific Sciences > Physics > Relativity Theory
Date: 2010
URI: https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/5377

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