Tidying up time

Abstract

In 1908, J.M.E McTaggart presented an argument for the unreality of time. He described two time series, the A series and the B series. Clifford Williams has recently claimed that the usual descriptions of the differences between A and B time do not clearly deliver the conclusion that there are two different, believable theories. This thesis is an attempt to show that there are (at least) two different, believable theories of time. I identify three distinctions in time theories: the A/B distinction, the substantival/relational distinction, and the dynamic/static distinction. By doing so, I show that there is a clear difference between A and B theories of time. I also give a deeper explanation for the ambiguities and misunderstandings in the literature that Clifford Williams uses to support his claim.