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An Attempt to Add a Little Direction to “The Problem of the Direction of Time”

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2022

John Earman
John Earman*
Affiliation:
University of Minnesota
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Abstract

It is argued that the main problem with “the problem of the direction of time” is to figure out what the problem is or is supposed to be. Towards this end, an attempt is made to disentangle and to classify some of the many issues which have been discussed under the label of ‘the direction of time’. Secondly, some technical apparatus is introduced in the hope of producing a sharper formulation of the issues than they have received in the philosophical literature. Finally, some tentative suggestions about the central issues are offered. In particuar, it is suggested that entropy and irreversibility are much less crucial to the central issues than most philosophers would have us believe. This suggestion is not made because of any firm conviction of its correctness but rather because it helps to focus the discussion on some basic but long neglected assumptions which underlie traditional approaches.

Type
Research Article
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 41 , Issue 1 , March 1974 , pp. 15 - 47
Copyright
Copyright © 1974 by The Philosophy of Science Association

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Footnotes

†

I am indebted to Larry Sklar for many ideas and much advice. Some of the ideas are good. Some of the advice is sound.

References

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