This Parallax View® website supports the books entitled On Time, Causality, and the Block Universe and The Parallax of Physics. Their theme is the nature of reality, and especially the scope and relationships of physics, philosophy, experience, and mathematics.
They look at the nature of time and propose a modern version of the block universe model. Unlike many works in this field of the philosophy of physics — best described as a meeting of fundamental physics with metaphysics — these do not simply mull over past writings. They present new ideas: ones that work consistently over a large span of related fields. These include causality, relativity, quantum mechanics, thermodynamics, consciousness, and free will, where the consequences and conclusions are both profound and enlightening.
The primary intent of these works is the identification and separation of the ontologically real, which should be addressed by physics, from subjective perceptions. The linking of dynamical change, temporal passage, the perception of a present moment, and causality to this latter category has afforded a clearer description of the universe by avoiding the necessary addition of axioms based purely on experience. This leaves everything that is ontologically real falling under the purview of mathematical description and analysis.
The first book (On Time, Causality, and the Block Universe) summarises years of prior research, but begins with the premise of a block universe. The second book (The Parallax of Physics) takes those results further, particularly in explaining the position of the block universe in modern physics. The latter also explains why a block universe model is the only viable route by looking at the ontology of time, and comparing the various conceptions and contradictions. The book devotes a whole chapter to the thoughts of several physicists and philosophers, both old and new. Although not a comprehensive review, a comparison of their differences from the model being presented is instructive. The book culminates in a deep dive into quantum mechanics and cosmology that examines known problems using this model.
Many of us harbour deep questions on subjects such as the nature of consciousness and free will, the origin of the universe, our role in the universe, the meaning of life and death, the concepts of time and causality, the relationship between mathematics and physics, and more. Conventional answers may come from fundamental physics (often deeply mathematical) or philosophy (often very abstract), but there is no comprehensive set of consistent answers; no model considering everything from the subjective reality of conscious experience to the objective reality lying just beyond physical reach.
This fresh approach weaves a picture that is consistent with what we experience, but also with mathematical physics. It explains why philosophy and physics are no longer peers, and takes us closer to understanding our own role in the universe. This has profound repercussions for the notion of conscious life, the acquisition of knowledge, the legitimacy of metaphysics, the validity of new physical theories, and the scope of mathematics as a tool for understanding our universe.
While some ideas presented in this book are not entirely without precedent (almost nothing is, these days), it brings many ideas together in a novel but satisfyingly corroborative fashion. It begins with a basic but traditionally unpalatable premise and takes it as far as is possible to yield genuine insights into the objective reality.
If you have ever asked about the difference between past and future, why time appears to flow in one direction, the moment we call 'now', the apparent conflict between determinism and free will, the difference between causation and correlation, mind-body dualism, why mathematics works at all, the nature of consciousness, Loschmidt’s paradox, wave-function collapse, quantum-eraser scenarios, 'first cause', the fantasy of time travel, and supposed temporal anomalies, then these works should be an interesting read for you.
More details on the individual works can be obtained from the menu in the top-right of this page.
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Content created: 13 January 2022. Last updated 5 October 2026.
Author, Anthony C. Proctor, currently lives in rural Ireland.
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