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On Western and Chinese Conception of Time: a Comparative Study Vol. 6(4), pp. 23-30, September, 2015 DOI: 10.5897/PPR2015.0119 Article Number: 7C0C79A55304 Philosophical Papers and Reviews ISSN 1996-0816 Copyright © 2015 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article http://www.academicjournals.org/PPR Review On Western and Chinese conception of time: A comparative study Alberto Castelli Xiamen University, Xiamen, China. Received 22 June, 2015; Accepted 1 September, 2015 While Western thinking considers change within a unique process stretching ad infinitum, Eastern thinking conceives change within a process that hold together repetition and transformation. Making sense to this is to simply recognize that the issues regarding time understanding in ontological and metaphysical terms, serve to support the idea that how we consider the nature of history it will impact the interpretation and conclusions drawn about history. But here the issue is less about history as content and more about the developing of a society; we will try therefore to observe how different conceptions of time can shape different imprint on the society as a whole. Key words: Time, eternal return, Buddhism, original sin, collectivism, individualism. INTRODUCTION Time is what keeps everything from happening at once. experiences, that enables humans to sequence and But the question remains: how do things happen? compare events. By so doing, space and time become 时 is commonly translated into English as ‘time’. Time dynamic quantities, not only affected by everything that is an intellectual concept that requires a metaphoric happens in the universe, but expanding like two vectors model since time has no concrete reality. Before 1915, towards the infinite. In both cases, the Newton vison and space and time were thought as a fixed arena, absolute Kant’s suggestion, the model is associated with a moment independent of consciousness, in which events progressive idea of history in which time moves forward took place, to be understood as analogous to the without repeating itself. The concept itself, the idea of continuous sequence of points on the line (Newton), flowing time, it is what keeps together Western and where no one of the single points were affected by what Chinese society: in The Analects, Confucius sitting by a happened in it. We now accept the idea that time is an river suddenly exclaimed: It passes on like that, indeed, intellectual concept, and a priori (along with the concept not ceasing day or night (9.16) which strongly recalls the of space and number) that does not refer to any kind of dramatic prayer of Koheleth in the Ecclesiastes when actually existing dimension, for it does not exist in itself, investigating the meaning of life he proclaims the vanity but it is a product of the way we represent things (Kant), of life. Confucius simply contrasts the passing river with as to say that we can know objects only as they appear the flowing of what we call time and life and yet by to us. Events and objects therefore move through our observing the ceaseless movement of the water eastern E-mail: [email protected] Author(s) agree that this article remain permanently open access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 International License 24 Philos. Papers Rev. and western philosophy just found another common point: Phenomenology of Spirit (1807), developed a complex change. But while western thinking considers change theodicy which again considered the road of history as within a unique process stretching ad infinitum, eastern linear but it was based on a dialectics clash, where thinking conceives change within a process that hold each thesis would encounter an opposing idea called together repetition and transformation. Making sense of antithesis. The clash of both was going to be transformed all of this is to simply recognize that the issues regarding into a synthesis, a conjunction that conserved the time understanding, in ontological and metaphysical contradiction between thesis and its antithesis while terms, serve to support the idea that how we consider the subliming it. As Marx famously explained afterwards, that nature of history will directly impact the interpretation and if Louis XVI's monarchic rule in France was seen as the conclusions drawn about history. But here, the issue is thesis, the French Revolution could be seen as its less about history as content and more about the antithesis and both were sublimed in Napoleon, who developing of a society; we will try therefore to observe reconciled the revolution with the Ancient Régime. how different conceptions of time can shape different Inspired by the Enlightenment's ideal of progress, social imprint on the society as a whole. evolutionism (Darwin, Spencer) confirms the theory of creation while opposing to it, as to say that whether we There is a given time for everything and a time for every ascribe the timeline of mankind to the theory of evolution happening under heaven: A time for giving birth, a time or creation, the process doesn’t change direction, a for dying; a time for planting, a time for uprooting. A time progressive walk with a beginning and an ending be it the for killing, a time for building. Finally I considered the hand of God or a natural disaster. Of course progress task God gave to the sons of men. He made everything was not necessarily, however, positive. After the carnage fitting in its time, but he also set eternity in their hearts of WWI European intelligentsia believed that the end of a although man is not able to embrace the work of God civilization (Spengler), the Western one, had come, from the beginning to the end. collapsed were the utopian ideals of everlasting progress and opportunities brought by the new science, suddenly Ecclesiastes iii, 1-10. twenty millions death bodies lying down cities in ruins is what remains of the positivist illusions. The end of history, as Francis Fukuyama put it, however would confirm that Western civilization: About a linear history the linearity of the process had come to dead end street rather than accepting the human past as a series of In general, the Islamic and Judeo-Christian concept, repetitive rises and falls. based on the New Testament, is that time is linear, beginning with the act of creation by God and that time will end with the end of the present order of things. Western civilization: About a cyclical history Plainly speaking, after the agrarian civilization- fascinated by the cyclicity of nature- God sets things in motion The Western civilization has been obsessed, and still is, promising an ending. We would not be wrong anyway to with the ideal type of a progressive time, better said, the suggest an idea of time conceived as a segment for if it is conception of time as a linear vector crossing the history true that time travels towards progress and progress is, of mankind, be it infinite or fated to end. In fact, Western according to XIX European belief, infinitive, it is true as society has always been fascinated by the idea of a final well that somewhere, it must have started, be it Plato, goal, a destination, an objective to be reached in spite of Christianity or the industrial revolution. History is man’s own finitude. When suddenly the destination, consequentially understood as an assumption of linear promised Land, ultimate achievement, came loose, progression given by a chain of cause and effect: to A somehow blurred by hopeless waiting or simply a followed B and B happened because there was A. The transactional phase, the most immediate and evident fall of man from the garden of Heaven through the outcome has always been crisis of consciousness and unfolding of time until the Apocalypse in Judaism and physical catastrophes, for instance, the decades 1890- Christianity conception, is the attempt of a progressive 1930. At first, we assist at the celebration of positivist reconciliation of the evil in the world with the existence of philosophy, the optimism regarding the accomplishments God. The age of enlightenment in modern history and of science and by reflex men’s achievement. But the even more the positivism of Auguste Comte contributes historical moment soon collapsed under the destruc- to develop the idea of history as perfect mechanism of tiveness brought by WWI. As to say that the Western emancipation where progress and science were the ideal conception of a linear time processing incessantly type leading the whole process. Human history is now somewhere is strictly linked to the Western need to have understood to be a progress from savagery and ignorance a direction to aim at in order to avoid chaos which is toward peace, prosperity, and science, from personal otherwise the normal status of things. agreement to contract, from chaotic circumstances to But if we look at history from further away, if we look personal choices. After Kant, Hegel, in the the big pictures rather than the details, we might soon Castelli 25 Figure 1. Circular time/clock realize that the antiquity shared with China is a very numerous occasions. Nature therefore seems to prove us similar understanding of time. It is the very Old that in spite of man’s pretentious assumption we move Testament to push forward a cyclic concept of time: the within a history that repeats itself and the circularity of Scripture declares of a God that always will be and never time, the everlasting renovation of the events is what changes, somehow breaking the consecutio temporum keeps the process spinning. However with the decline (chronological order) between the past and the future. of antiquity and the spread of Christianity the concept fell Time is therefore not linear but circular.
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