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Full Idea
Given events ordered in a B series, one defines an infinitude of different A series that correspond to taking different events as 'now' or 'present'. McTaggart talks of 'the A series' when there is an infinitude of such.
Gist of Idea
There is one ordered B series, but an infinitude of A series, depending on when the present is
Source
Tim Maudlin (The Metaphysics within Physics [2007], 4.3 n11)
Book Ref
Maudlin,Tim: 'The Metaphysics within Physics' [OUP 2007], p.126
A Reaction
This strikes me as a rather mathematical (and distorted) claim about the A series view. The A-series is one dynamic happening. Not an infinity of static times lines, each focused on a different 'now'.
| 22961 | The present moment is obviously a necessary feature of time [Aristotle] |
| 3915 | The Hopi have no concept of time as something flowing from past to future [Whorf] |
| 22899 | 'Thank goodness that's over' is not like 'thank goodness that happened on Friday' [Prior,AN] |
| 14614 | The past, present, future and tenses of A-theory are too weird, and should be analysed indexically [Smart] |
| 15187 | It is claimed that the tense view entails the unreality of both future and past [Le Poidevin] |
| 15192 | We share a common now, but not a common here [Le Poidevin] |
| 15205 | Tensed theorists typically try to reduce the tenseless to the tensed [Le Poidevin] |
| 16266 | There is one ordered B series, but an infinitude of A series, depending on when the present is [Maudlin] |
| 14608 | A-theorists, unlike B-theorists, believe some sort of objective distinction between past, present and future [Zimmerman,DW] |
| 14006 | Time flows, past is fixed, future is open, future is feared but not past, we remember past, we plan future [Bourne] |
| 22897 | The A-series says a past event is becoming more past, but how can it do that? [Bardon] |
| 22996 | The A-series has to treat being past, present or future as properties [Baron/Miller] |