Graduate Student, Department of Philosophy
Associate Professor Dr Rick Benitez
About
Thesis Title: “The Nature of Time”
Plato writes about Time: “Now the nature of the ideal being was everlasting, but to bestow this attribute in its fullness upon a creature was impossible. Wherefore he resolved to have a moving image of eternity, and when he set in order the heaven, he made this image eternal but moving according to number, while eternity itself rests in unity; and this image we call time.” –Timaeus 37c
I take this to mean that everything in the universe is, on one level or other, a moving image of eternity; a multiplicity set in motion which images the nature of eternity; a dialectical net of pairs of opposites which emerge dynamically from the One and comprise the nature of the universe. For Time moves “according to number”, while “eternity itself rests in unity.”
Time is, in fact, a multiplicity of movements nestled within one another, comprising a complex, whole, dynamic Cosmos: the “moving image of eternity.”
On a metaphysical level, there is the movement of the Forms being instantiated in many particulars, which in turn try to emulate the original Form which they represent.
On an ethical level, there is the dialogue between vision and recollection which is the foundation of knowledge and simultaneously moves towards knowledge, which is virtue itself.
On a physical level, there is the movement and revolution of the stars and heavenly bodies which gives rise to the hours of the day and the seasons.
One could possibly situate a philosophy of physics in this context by considering that the movement of light, itself having a dual nature (particle/wave), gives rise both to the existence of living creatures and to our perception of such creatures.
Contact Information
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