Spinoza and the Reality of Time
Spinoza is often labeled a philosopher who believed that time was unreal. This article addresses Spinoza’s views on time, emphasizing that the concepts he mooted on the topic and his general conceptualization of time must be carefully examined. The paper also attends to the historical contexts of Sp...
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| Language: | deu |
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Istanbul University Press
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Felsefe Arkivi |
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| Online Access: | https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/F6C51C7FEA974BBAAD60F89D7E548432 |
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| author | Çağlar Karaca |
| author_facet | Çağlar Karaca |
| author_sort | Çağlar Karaca |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Spinoza is often labeled a philosopher who believed that time was unreal. This article addresses Spinoza’s views on time, emphasizing that the concepts he mooted on the topic and his general conceptualization of time must be carefully examined. The paper also attends to the historical contexts of Spinoza’s ideas on time, for instance, the debates on infinity, causation, God, and Cartesian philosophy prevailing in that era. Finally, Spinoza’s philosophy of time is examined against modern beliefs such as Laplacian determinism and the block universe theory. Arguments favoring the unreality of time are generally based on questioning our daily perceptions of time. Spinoza emphasized that everything should be conceptualized in relation to the eternal. According to him, eternity is timeless in itself, but it entails sempiternity. Spinoza defined duration as an activity akin to the eternal nature of being. Duration is not temporal per se. Rather, time is created by delimiting duration through quantitative comparisons. Spinoza’s time is perspectival: it emanates from a specific relationship between human beings and the universe. His view of timelessness based on causal necessities connotes the block universe theory. However, Spinoza criticized the mechanistic conception, —an underlying theme of the block universe theory— for deeming causal relations as external. Instead, he offered an ontological unification of the eternal being and physical necessity. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-a6d0609701a44074bc2f115873ea0cf3 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2667-7644 |
| language | deu |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | Istanbul University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Felsefe Arkivi |
| spelling | doaj-art-a6d0609701a44074bc2f115873ea0cf32025-08-20T03:52:33ZdeuIstanbul University PressFelsefe Arkivi2667-76442023-12-0159203210.26650/arcp.1356981123456Spinoza and the Reality of TimeÇağlar Karaca0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4059-6916Kastamonu Üniversitesi, Kastamonu, TurkiyeSpinoza is often labeled a philosopher who believed that time was unreal. This article addresses Spinoza’s views on time, emphasizing that the concepts he mooted on the topic and his general conceptualization of time must be carefully examined. The paper also attends to the historical contexts of Spinoza’s ideas on time, for instance, the debates on infinity, causation, God, and Cartesian philosophy prevailing in that era. Finally, Spinoza’s philosophy of time is examined against modern beliefs such as Laplacian determinism and the block universe theory. Arguments favoring the unreality of time are generally based on questioning our daily perceptions of time. Spinoza emphasized that everything should be conceptualized in relation to the eternal. According to him, eternity is timeless in itself, but it entails sempiternity. Spinoza defined duration as an activity akin to the eternal nature of being. Duration is not temporal per se. Rather, time is created by delimiting duration through quantitative comparisons. Spinoza’s time is perspectival: it emanates from a specific relationship between human beings and the universe. His view of timelessness based on causal necessities connotes the block universe theory. However, Spinoza criticized the mechanistic conception, —an underlying theme of the block universe theory— for deeming causal relations as external. Instead, he offered an ontological unification of the eternal being and physical necessity.https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/F6C51C7FEA974BBAAD60F89D7E548432spinozadescartesdeterminismphilosophy of timeeternity |
| spellingShingle | Çağlar Karaca Spinoza and the Reality of Time Felsefe Arkivi spinoza descartes determinism philosophy of time eternity |
| title | Spinoza and the Reality of Time |
| title_full | Spinoza and the Reality of Time |
| title_fullStr | Spinoza and the Reality of Time |
| title_full_unstemmed | Spinoza and the Reality of Time |
| title_short | Spinoza and the Reality of Time |
| title_sort | spinoza and the reality of time |
| topic | spinoza descartes determinism philosophy of time eternity |
| url | https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/F6C51C7FEA974BBAAD60F89D7E548432 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT caglarkaraca spinozaandtherealityoftime |