The Enigmatic Reality of Time: Aristotle, Plotinus, and Today (Studies in Platonism, Neoplatonism, and the Platonic Tradition)

386 Pages·2008·1.31 MB·English

by  Michael F. Wagner

2008061.(Brill:21538)Wagner.Prelims.Proef4.12-8-2008:14.58,page-1.
The Enigmatic Reality of Time
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Ancient Mediterranean
and Medieval Texts
and Contexts
Editors
Robert M. Berchman
Jacob Neusner
Studies in Platonism, Neoplatonism,
and the Platonic Tradition
Editedby
Robert M. Berchman
DowlingCollegeandBardCollege
John F. Finamore
UniversityofIowa
EditorialBoard
JOHNDILLON(TrinityCollege,Dublin)–GARYGURTLER(BostonCollege)
JEAN-MARCNARBONNE(LavalUniversity-Canada)
VOLUME7
2008061.(Brill:21538)Wagner.Prelims.Proef4.12-8-2008:14.58,page-3.
The Enigmatic Reality
of Time
Aristotle, Plotinus, and Today
By
Michael F. Wagner
LEIDEN•BOSTON
2008
2008061.(Brill:21538)Wagner.Prelims.Proef4.12-8-2008:14.58,page-4.
Thisbookisprintedonacid-freepaper.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Wagner,MichaelF.,1952-
Theenigmaticrealityoftime:Aristotle,Plotinus,andtoday/byMichaelWagner.
p.cm.--(AncientMediterraneanandmedievaltextsandcontexts,ISSN
1871-188X;v.7)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-90-04-17025-4(hardback:alk.paper)1.Time.2.Aristotle.3.Plotinus.I.Title.
BD638.W282008
115--dc22
2008028983
ISSN 1871-188X
ISBN 9789004170254
Copyright2008byKoninklijkeBrillNV,Leiden,TheNetherlands.
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“From infancy I came to boyhood, or rather it came to me,
taking the place of infancy. Yet infancy did not go: for where
was it to go to? Simply it was no longer there. For now I
was not an infant, without speech, but a boy, speaking.”
Aurelius St.Augustine, Confessions I.8(Sheedtransl.)
Time is the feature of existence in virtue of which,
as its contents and constituents proceed and change,
what was no longer is and what will be is not yet.
M.F.Wagner
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CONTENTS
Introduction............................................................ 1
part i dimensions of times enigma
. ’
1. IsTimeReal?...................................................... 19
2. Eleaticism,Temporality,andTime............................... 43
3. TheMakingsofaTemporalUniverse ........................... 65
3.1. PastnessandFuturity........................................ 65
3.2. SynchronicityandAsynchronicity .......................... 80
3.3. TemporalPaceandMeasurement..........................102
3.4. Presentness,orthePresent ..................................121
part ii aristotles real account of time
. ’
4. ParmenideanTimeandtheImpossibleNow....................149
5. CosmicMotionandtheSpeedofTime..........................167
5.I. TimeastheMotionoftheCosmos.........................168
5.II. TimeastheCosmosItself...................................178
5.III.TimeasMotionandAllChange ...........................179
6. TemporalCognitionandtheReturnoftheNow................189
7. RealTemporalityinanAristotelianWorld ......................213
8. DoesAristotleRefuteEleaticism? ................................243
BisectionArgumentI..............................................253
BisectionArgumentII.............................................255
BisectionArgumentIII............................................257
part iii plotinus vitalistic platonism
. ’
and the real origins of time
9. Temporality,Eternality,andPlotinus’NewPlatonism...........275
10. Plotinus’Critique ofAristotelianMotion ........................289
11. IndefiniteTemporalityandtheMeasureofMotion.............313
12. Plotinus’NeoplatonicAccountofTime..........................339
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viii contents
Bibliography ...........................................................365
Index ...................................................................373
2008061Wagner.01_Introduction.Proef3.11-8-2008:16.32,page1.
INTRODUCTION
In recent decades, the nature of time has come to be viewed in Anglo
and American letters as principally a topic of scientific expertise—and,
amongscientificdisciplines,especiallyphysics.Askgeneralreadershav-
ing an interest in the topic whom to read to learn about time and
a likely response would be the renowned physicist Stephen Hawking.
Time thus finds itself alongside quarks and quanta, photons and neu-
trons, forces and fields, and other such theoretic bric-a-brac posited
and(or) investigated by contemporary physics—even though conceptu-
allyitisnotcomparabletoanyofthem.
Time’s status and character as, rather, properly a philosophical topic
is most clearly articulated in the context of answering the fundamental
question: Is time (even) real? For, answering this question requires
a reasonably clear idea of what to look for in order to make this
determination—both in virtue of the sort of question it is (What does
this question demand of time in order for the answer to be that, yes,
time is real?) and in the particular case of time itself (What does ‘time’
denote such that this must be real in order for the answer to be that,
yes,timeisreal?).
It may be that what this question demands of time is indeed for it
to exist as a proper object of scientific study; and so, concordantly, that
what ‘time’ must denote is just what science states or implies that it
denotes.Butthiscannotjustbeassumed.
Indeed, one can (and I will) ask whether what ‘time’ is used to
denote in contemporary science (in particular, physics) is in fact time
at all; whereas, it would seem odd and out of place to ask whether
what physics uses the term ‘quark’ to denote is in fact a quark (or,
are quarks)—or, at least, one would be asking a very different sort of
questioninthiscase.
From very early on in recorded (Western) philosophical thought,
investigation into the nature of time has been driven by the question:
Is time real? Understanding the meaning and intent of this question,
and its demands and implications regarding the (possible) nature of
time, is therefore central to investigating time’s nature. A rudimentary
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2 introduction
intimationandsenseofthisquestionalsostimulatedmyowninterestin
thetopic.
Consider, for instance, that as I write this I have several decades of
life to recollect and mull over; and, I envision, a few more to speculate
and dream upon. An autobiographical synopsis of my current life
circumstance might include, for example, that my father is recently
deceased and my mother now resides in Austin, Texas, where my
brother is a molecular-semiconductors engineer. My sister teaches art;
and she is now a twice-grandmother. I am a Professor of Philosophy at
the University of San Diego. My hair is grey-white, my glasses bifocal.
I have a sporty new car; and I am herein completing a project I began
approximatelysevenyearsago.
A year ago, such an autobiographical synopsis would have been
similar in some respects and different in others. It could have included
some of these items but not others; and it might have included items
which this current one could not. As an elementary-school assignment,
a listing of some salient life facts would have differed entirely from this
current synopsis. A year from now, at the very least my father’s death
will not be so recent, nor my car so new; and (I anticipate) this project
willbeentirelyfinished.
Over time, assuredly other items in this synopsis will no longer
pertain to my life circumstance, even while different ones would. Yet,
as I write this, this is indeed an accurate autobiographical synopsis;
whereas, the one I might have composed in elementary-school would
notbeand,verylikely,norwouldathirty-years-hence one.
Indeed, the phrase ‘as I write this’ is itself a source for some con-
sternation, even as I write it. I first wrote the phrase on May 12,
2007. I almost entirely rewrote the paragraph which uses the phrase—
including retyping the phrase itself—on May 17, 2007. Precisely when
is the “as I write this” when I am writing [wrote] this? And, even, pre-
ciselywhatisthe“this”whichisproperlywhatIamwriting“asIwrite”
it? The phrase? Just the word ‘this’? And, which iteration herein of the
phrase,ortheword?
Engrossed in reading a good book, enraptured by the eyes of your
beloved, one suddenly notices the hours which have passed and won-
ders: Where has the time gone? Indeed, where does time go? This
prosaic-sounding question was a principal inspiration for this project.
Italsoismoresubtlethanitmightatfirstseem.
The notion that time “goes” somewhere does sound strange. And
yet, it can seem at times that life (our environment, perceptions,