Neither Presentism nor Eternalism

TL;DR

The paper proposes a third view of reality's temporal structure, where fundamental becoming is real but local and unoriented, challenging the traditional Presentism and Eternalism dichotomy.

Contribution

It introduces a novel perspective that reality's temporal structure is more complex, with local and unoriented becoming, avoiding the limitations of existing theories.

Findings

Fundamental becoming is real but local and unoriented.

A well-defined notion of present exists only locally and approximately.

Challenges the dichotomy of Presentism and Eternalism.

Abstract

Is reality three-dimensional and becoming real (Presentism), or is reality four-dimensional and becoming illusory (Eternalism)? Both options raise difficulties. I argue that we do not need to be trapped by this dilemma. There is a third possibility: reality has a more complex temporal structure than either of these two naive options. Fundamental becoming is real, but local and unoriented. A notion of present is well defined, but only locally and in the context of approximations.