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Essay / Eternalism as a theory of the concept of time
Questioning the concept of time is confusing but has been vital to the field of metaphysics over the years. There are two dominant theories that attempt to define the true nature of time, presentism and eternalism. This essay will explore how eternalism succeeds in describing the ontological nature of time. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay According to eternalism, the past, present and future do not exist, only the space-time grid exists. This departs from our classical understanding of time, which suggests that time itself moves. Sider's idea of hypertime explains well why this is a misconception and supports the spacetime theory as the most plausible. According to Sider, events in our lives occur relative to time, which means that time must also move relative to something. It proposes the idea of time in motion in relation to another type of time, hypertime. However, this introduces the notion of having a series of infinite hypertimes which is virtually impossible to prove. Eternalism draws on space-time theory because it defines time and space as analogous. Just as Melbourne and Sydney exist, but in different parts of Australia, time exists in different places and these different times exist just as much as each other. Most philosophers today prefer eternalism over presentism and other theories because eternalism is scientifically accurate. Einstein's theory of special relativity suggests an eternalist view of time, because it suggests that the past, present, and future are arbitrary points on a continuum. An event is both a place and a time and can be represented by a particular point in space-time. Einstein postulates that time is not something absolute but relative to frames of reference. Without getting too caught up in the physics behind it, if we want to look at a point 'M' on the space-time grid, we can note that everything that happened before M happens after m is future relative to mr. The past and future are relative to m and can differ entirely for another point “x”. So time is not constantly moving as we might be inclined to believe, but in fact begins to exhibit even more peculiar characteristics, such as dilation, if we look at the mathematics of it. Spacetime can therefore conceptualize time as a series of events of great and infinite variety. Complete records from a specific point are represented by a line in space-time. The past, present and future are accessible to a specific object at a specific time. This has led physicists to neglect time as something that passes, or to describe it as a sequence of events that occur: the past and the future are "there", arranged within the framework of a space-time to four dimensions, some of which we have already visited and some of which we have not yet. Just as we are sure that all components of space exist even if we are not there, all of time (past, present, and future) constantly exists even if we are not able to witness it. Time is not a flowing river, but simply is, as the eternalist philosophy of time suggests. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay In conclusion, the biggest criticism of this theory is that it is counterintuitive and does not fit with our tendency to have a presentist temporal phenomenology. There..