Presentism and the Multiverse Hypothesis

Abstract

The special theory of relativity (STR) is often used to oppose presentism because STR denies the existence of absolute simultaneity. According to the general theory of relativity (GTR), which generalizes upon STR, we can consider the notion of ‘cosmic time’, which is common to the whole universe. Accordingly, cosmic time could be a candidate for absolute time, which would provide a means for presentism to be maintained. Nevertheless, GTR can also be said to be incomplete because it is not unified with quantum mechanics (QM). In this paper, I argue that if a certain variety of the multiverse hypothesis is correct, then presentism cannot be supported.