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Time's Arrow and the Structure of Spacetime

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2022

Geoffrey Matthews
Geoffrey Matthews*
Affiliation:
Indiana University
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Abstract

The theory of general relativity has produced some great insights into the nature of space and time. Unfortunately, its relevance to the problem of the direction of time has been overestimated. This paper points out that the problem of the direction of time can be formulated in purely local ways, and that in this kind of formulation considerations of general relativity are of little or no importance. On the basis of this, positions which assume that relativistic considerations are always relevant are criticised.

Type
Research Article
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 46 , Issue 1 , March 1979 , pp. 82 - 97
Copyright
Copyright © Philosophy of Science Association 1979

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Footnotes

†

I wish to thank John Winnie, Indiana University, and the anonymous referee for helpful advice on earlier versions of this paper.

References

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