Relativity and the Moving Spotlight

Abstract

The moving spotlight theory of time is usually introduced as follows. The theory combines eternalism—the doctrine that past, present, and future times all exist— with “objective becoming.” The claim that there is objective becoming has two parts. First, facts about which time is present are non-relative. That is, even if in some sense each time is present relative to itself, only one time is absolutely present. That time, and only that time, glows with a special metaphysical status. And second, which instant is absolutely present keeps changing. The NOW moves along the series of times from earlier times to later times.