Does Time Really Pass? (Simon Prosser on the Illusion of Passage)

We are all familiar with the notion that time passes, but what does this mean? In this talk, Dr Simon Prosser argues that time does not pass. He begins by outlining some philosophical theories of temporal passage (A-theories of time, including presentism and the growing block view), along with a class of theories according to which time does not objectively pass (the B-theory of time, what’s called eternalism or the block universe). He then goes over traditional problems for the notion of passage, including McTaggart’s argument, the issue of the rate of passage, and the argument that passage is incompatible with modern physics (particularly with Einstein’s special theory of relativity). He then goes on to argue that, despite appearances to the contrary, it is not actually possible to experience time passing. But because the best reason for thinking that time passes is our experience of it, we no longer have any good reason for thinking that time actually passes. If this is right, then it is an imp