Time
Ned Markosian · 2020 · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Summary
Overview of philosophical accounts of time — presentism, eternalism (block universe), and the growing block view.
Why it matters here
Explains what each of the time-models actually claims before any physics is brought in.
Linked claims
The 4D 'block' picture follows naturally from special relativity, where there is no objective universal 'now'. Many physicists and philosophers accept it.
If quantum gravity is right, time may be derived rather than fundamental. Active research; nothing settled.
The past is real and growing. The future is not yet. A compromise that preserves becoming.
The natural common-sense view: only what exists now exists. Hard to reconcile with relativity but not refuted.
Umbrella entry for the time question. Time, in some real sense, undeniably organises both experience and physics. Whether it is fundamental, emergent, or illusory is what's actually contested.