Time as image of eternity: A.F. Losev’s criticism of subjectivist conceptions of time

Studies in East European Thought 74 (3):387-400 (2021)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

The paper analyses Aleksei F. Losev’s position in respect to the notion of time, which he considers in a dialectical perspective. The Russian philosopher proceeds from the Platonic interpretation of the relationship between the one and the many, according to which each plurality carries in itself a unifying principle, as its ontological grounding. This anti-modern perspective represents a rejection of the positivist “objectification” of the world, which introduced the “metaphysical” notions of absolute space and time. According to Losev, time as an indefinite continued progress of events that occur in an apparently irreversible succession does not exist as such and cannot be considered other than within the framework of the overall unity of temporal fragments, so that they acquire a common background. By placing the interpretation of time on the ontological plan, in its dialectical connection with its opposite, Losev manages to overcome the problem of the measurability of time, raised in Aristotle’s definition of time as a “measure of motion.” Losev also rejects modern subjectivist ideas about time as an experience of the present or as pure duration, both conceptions inevitably leading to the problem of identifying in the continuous flow of time a stable ground that serves as the basis for any temporal change. Besides that, Losev’s approach to the interpretation of time leads to criticism of the modern idea of progress, understood as an endless striving for the future, which always remains unattainable. The main task then is to find “mobile rest,” a unifying principle that can give meaning to human existence through the combination of past, present and future.

Other Versions

No versions found

Links

PhilArchive

    This entry is not archived by us. If you are the author and have permission from the publisher, we recommend that you archive it. Many publishers automatically grant permission to authors to archive pre-prints. By uploading a copy of your work, you will enable us to better index it, making it easier to find.

    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 102,394

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Aristotle’s Ontology of Time.Tatiana Denisova - 2024 - In Jean- Timothy J. Madigan & Jean-Yves Beziau (eds.), Universal Logic, Ethics, and Truth. Birkhäuser. pp. 95-107.
If Quantum Mechanics Is the Solution, What Should the Problem Be?Vasil Penchev - 2020 - Philosophy of Science eJournal (Elsevier: SSRN) 13 (32):1-10.
The Possible Present.Ugo Perone - 2011 - State University of New York Press.
The Early Losev.L. A. Gogotishvili - 1996 - Russian Studies in Philosophy 35 (1):6-31.
Hodgson on the relations between philosophy, science and time.Holly K. Andersen - 2022 - British Journal for the History of Philosophy 31 (2):161-182.

Analytics

Added to PP
2022-09-24

Downloads
19 (#1,099,942)

6 months
6 (#818,268)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Giorgia Rimondi
University of Parma (PhD)

Citations of this work

No citations found.

Add more citations