Re: a note about time

[Keith Wilson <kw503@york.ac.uk>]

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I'm not quite sure what you mean by 'the universe being at time t', but if 
a 'time' is just a particular configuration of all the matter and energy 
the universe then you'd also need to provide a definition of simultaneity. 
According to the special theory of relativity, observers travelling at 
different speeds will disagree about which events are simultaneous, and 
there is no 'objective' frame of reference that can be used to resolve the 
matter.

Also, if by determinism you mean that things could not have been different 
at any particular time, then your conclusion is true by definition. 
However, if you take it as meaning that the state of the universe at time 
t+1 can be precisely predicted from its state at time t, then the scenario 
you describe could (I think) still be non-deterministic. Just because the 
universe was at a particular state at time t is not to say that it could 
not have been different (where 'could have been' is cashed out in terms of 
some counter-factual theory of causation, such as David Lewis's possible 
worlds explanation, mad though it is), and this is true of both 
deterministic and non-deterministic universes. Of course, you might then 
want to say that because things are different, the alternate state no 
longer represents the same 'time', which seems peculiar, but perhaps this 
is because the word 'time' is now being used in a slightly different sense?

In general, it seems more natural to think of a time as being an additional 
property of the universe rather than its actual state. Otherwise, if the 
universe were to reach the same state more than once then you would have to 
say that it did so 'at the same time', which seems wrong.

Personally, I'm inclined to agree with Lowe and say that although 'time' 
may exist (as a process), there are no such things as 'times' and we should 
exclude them from our ontology. (And as for a completely random suggestion 
as to what time is: could it be something to do with the way that the 
possible becomes actual? Just a thought...)

- Keith



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