A Matter of Time
College Course 2
Winter 1999
Dwight Lahr and Beatriz Pastor
Friday Discussion: Week 2
Question 1: What is Time?
[cf. Timaeus, Physics IV, Book of Genesis, Lahr notes #2]
Related Issues
(a) What is Plato's definition of time?
i. What is Eternity for Plato?
ii. Why did the Eternal Being create time?
iii. What is the relationship between time and being, time and becoming?
iv. What is the function of the planets in relation to time?
v. What is the Same and the Different in Plato?
vi. Do you think that the movements of the planets provide an accurate representation of time in Plato's essay? Why? Explain.
vii. What is the relationship between time and numbers in Plato?
(b) What is Aristotle's definition of time?
i. Is time different from movement? How?
ii. What is the relationship between time and numbers?
iii. How does Aristotle define past, present, and future?
iv. What is the difference between Aristotle's definition of time and Plato's?
v. Here are two new definitions to consider:
Time is what is measured by a clock.
A clock is a device whose motion is that of a moving body that passes repeatedly over equal spaces in the same way.
Compare this definition of time with those of Plato and Aristotle.
vi. Does time exist?
(c) How do (a) and (b) relate to the inscription of time in Genesis?
i. Quantitative vs. symbolic time
ii. Time as measure
iii. Time and meaning
iv. Time and numbers
v. Creation myths as oral calendars
vi. Eternity and time
Question 2: What are some spatial realizations of Time?
[cf. Empires of Time, Book of Genesis, Lahr notes #2]
Related Issues
(a) What are some geometrical models of time?
(b) What are some models of time found in creation myths?
(c) Compare and contrast your findings in (a) and (b).