Abstract

The development by Locke, Herder, and others of the concept of relative time, each time unit differing qualitatively and intrinsically according to the process of which it forms a part, bears on the nature of historical explanation. There is no universal time; the world "is" as it "appears" for every viewpoint; achievements of different periods, seemingly the same, differ by virtue of their contexts; phenomena are truly individualizable only through appraisal relative to these contexts which make explanation possible; even contemporary generations perceive a moment in different historical times; any of numerous different though equivalent descriptions can logically replace temporal statements