The B-theory of time, also called the ‘tenseless theory of time,’ is one of two positions regarding the temporal ordering of events in the philosophy of time. B-theorists argue that the flow of time is only a subjective illusion of human consciousness, that the past, present, and future are equally real, and that time is tenseless: temporal becoming is not an objective feature of reality. Therefore, there is nothing privileged about the present, ontologically speaking.
The B-theory is derived from a distinction drawn by English idealist metaphysician J. M. E. McTaggart between A series and B series. The B-theory is often drawn upon in theoretical physics, and is seen in theories such as eternalism (the view that all existence in time is equally real, as opposed to presentism or the growing block universe theory of time, in which at least the future is not the same as any other time).
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