Time

:For alternate uses of "time", see Time (disambiguation) or see TIME (magazine).

Philosophy of time

Main article: Philosophy of space and time; Ontology

Related Topics:
Philosophy of space and time - Ontology

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In ancient thought, Zeno's paradoxes challenged the conception of infinite divisibility, and eventually led to the development of calculus. Parmenides (of whom Zeno was a follower) believed that time, motion, and change were illusions, basing this on a rather interesting argument. More recently, McTaggart held a similar belief.

Related Topics:
Zeno's paradoxes - Calculus - Parmenides - Zeno - Interesting argument - McTaggart

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Newton believed time and space form a container for events, which is as real as the objects it contains. In contrast, Leibniz believed that time and space are a conceptual apparatus describing the interrelations between events.

Related Topics:
Newton - Space - Leibniz

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Leibniz and others thought of time as a fundamental part of an abstract conceptual framework, together with space and number, within which we sequence events, quantify their duration, and compare the motions of objects. In this view, time does not refer to any kind of entity that "flows", that objects "move through", or that is a "container" for events.

Related Topics:
Abstract - Space - Number - Quantify

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The bucket argument proved problematic for Leibniz, and his account fell into disfavour, at least amongst scientists, until the development of Mach's principle. Modern physics views the curvature of spacetime around an object as much a feature of that object as are its mass and volume.

Related Topics:
Bucket argument - Mach's principle - Physics - Spacetime - Mass - Volume

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Immanuel Kant, in the Critique of Pure Reason, described time as an a priori notion that allows us (together with other a priori notions such as space) to comprehend sense experience. With Kant, neither space nor time are conceived as substances, but rather both are elements of a systematic framework we use to structure our experience. Spatial measurements are used to quantify how far apart objects are, and temporal measurements are used to quantify how far apart events occur.

Related Topics:
Immanuel Kant - Critique of Pure Reason - A priori - Space - Substance - Framework - Measurement - Quantify - Object - Event

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Nietzsche, inspired by the concept of eternal return in his book Thus Spake Zarathustra, argued that time possesses a circular characteristic. Postulating an infinite past, "all things" must have come to pass therein; the same for an infinite future.

Related Topics:
Nietzsche - Eternal return - Thus Spake Zarathustra

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In Existentialism, time is considered fundamental to the question of being, in particular by the philosopher Martin Heidegger.

Related Topics:
Existentialism - Being - Martin Heidegger

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