The Block Universe: Time and Eternity
Physical and Philosophical Perspectives on the Structure of Time
Organized by the Senior Excellence Faculty and the Institute for Advanced Study
Date and Venue
Monday, November 17, 2025, 10:00 a.m.
Lecture Hall, TUM Institute for Advanced Study | Lichtenbergstr. 2a, 85748 Garching
What if the past, present, and future all existed equally – not one after another, but side by side?
This idea shapes the so-called block universe, a conceptual model rooted in the theory of relativity. In it, the three spatial dimensions – length, width, and height – together with time as a fourth dimension, form a unified structure: spacetime. Every event has both a location and a moment in time – coordinates within a four-dimensional framework.
In philosophy, this has evolved into the image of the block universe: a view of reality in which the world does not unfold over time but instead is already complete.
You might imagine it like a book that has already been fully written: from the first page to the last, everything is contained within it – past, present, and future. We experience the story page by page, giving us the impression of a flowing time. But from the book’s perspective, everything already exists.
What, then, is time? And what do we mean when we speak of eternity?
These questions touch the very foundations of how we understand reality – and they bring physics, philosophy, and metaphysics into conversation with one another.
We warmly invite you to a panel discussion featuring four short talks and an open dialogue at the intersection of physics, philosophy, cosmology, mathematics, and theology.
Presentations
(approx. 20 min each, in German)
Der Zeitbegriff zwischen Naturgesetzen und Philosophie
Prof. Dr. Klaus Mainzer (Emeritus of Excellence TUM, Präsident European Academy of Sciences & Arts)
Gegenwart im Universum und im Geist
Prof. Dr. Martin Faessler (Emeritus LMU, Mitglied des Excellence Cluster ORIGINS)
Was ist die Zeit?
PD Dr. Rico Gutschmidt (Universität Konstanz und ETH Zürich, Philosopher in Residence & Alumnus Fellow TUM IAS)
Was ist die Ewigkeit?
Prof. Dr. Gunther Wenz (Emeritus LMU, Leiter der Wolfhart Pannenberg-Forschungsstelle an der Hochschule für Philosophie München)
Registration
Please register by Wednesday, November 12, at: annette.groetler(at)tum.de