What is the nature of time? This new study engages with the philosophy of Henri Bergson on time and proposes a new way of thinking about the effects of future events on the past. According to Bergson, time is an integral feature of real things, just as much as their material or size. When a flower grows, it takes a period of real time for it to flourish, which cannot be quickened or slowed down, nor can it be eliminated from the process of growth. Bergson named this real time ‘duration’ and argued that everything and everyone exist as duration, and that internal processes flow into one another, with no clear boundaries that separate one phase of duration from another. According to Bergson’s philosophy, the past does not disappear but smoothly flows into the present, forming an indivisible dynamic unity. But what if the causal flow of temporal reality is not unidirectional? What if not only past events influence future ones, but future ones in their turn have retrospective effect on past occurrences? The author of this book analyses these key questions, asserts that the changeability of the past follows from Bergson’s theory of time and proposes a theory of embodied time that involves the retrospective enrichment of reality.
| ISBN: | 9783034308830 |
| Publication date: | 14th September 2012 |
| Author: | Elena Fell |
| Publisher: | Peter Lang AG, Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Pagination: | 237 pages |
| Genres: |
Philosophy: epistemology and theory of knowledge Literary studies: c 1900 to c 2000 Psychological theory, systems, schools and viewpoints Western philosophy from c 1800 Philosophy: metaphysics and ontology |
What is the nature of time? This new study engages with the philosophy of Henri Bergson on time and proposes a new way of thinking about the effects of future events on the past. According to Bergson, time is an integral feature of real things, just as much as their material or size. When a flower grows, it takes a period of real time for it to flourish, which cannot be quickened or slowed down, nor can it be eliminated from the process of growth. Bergson named this real time ‘duration’ and argued that everything and everyone exist as duration, and that internal processes flow into one another, with no clear boundaries that separate one phase of duration from another. According to Bergson’s philosophy, the past does not disappear but smoothly flows into the present, forming an indivisible dynamic unity. But what if the causal flow of temporal reality is not unidirectional? What if not only past events influence future ones, but future ones in their turn have retrospective effect on past occurrences? The author of this book analyses these key questions, asserts that the changeability of the past follows from Bergson’s theory of time and proposes a theory of embodied time that involves the retrospective enrichment of reality.
Duration, Temporality, Self features in the following genres: Philosophy: epistemology and theory of knowledge, Literary studies: c 1900 to c 2000, Psychological theory, systems, schools and viewpoints, Western philosophy from c 1800, Philosophy: metaphysics and ontology
Duration, Temporality, Self is available in Paperback
Duration, Temporality, Self was written by Elena Fell and published by Peter Lang AG, Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften
Duration, Temporality, Self has 237 pages