Two-Dimensional Time: MacBeath's ``Time's Square'' and Special Relativity
Author: King D.1
Source: Synthese, Volume 139, Number 3, April 2004 , pp. 421-428(8)
Publisher: Springer
Key:
- Free Content
- New Content
- Subscribed Content
- Free Trial Content
Abstract:
Murray MacBeath, in his essay ``Time's Square'', describes a fictitious scenario where various physical observations made by the participants would, he claims, invite the interpretation that time for them is two-dimensional. In the present paper, however, I argue that such observations come close to underdetermining the hypothesis of time's twodimensionality; for a rival hypothesis - that, under certain circumstances, the observations can be explained in terms of the familiar time dilation effects predicted by special relativity - almost fits the evidence as well. That is, under certain (albeit artificial) circumstances the world can already behave almost as though it were temporally two-dimensional.Document Type: Research article
DOI: 10.1023/B:SYNT.0000024890.87641.60
Affiliations: 1: 420 Spencer Road Thornlie Western Australia 6108, Email: drd_king@hotmail.com
Key:
- Free Content
- New Content
- Subscribed Content
- Free Trial Content

Click here for Page Help