The chapter addresses the question whether, in light of the innovation introduced by the discoveries of contemporary (quantum) physics, we may conceive of time as ultimately atomic, that is, as composed of time units, not further reducible to anything more atomic in terms of time. My answer to this question verges towards a ‘No’. I see two main difficulties in taking time as discrete: (1) the difficulty to understand properly and fully the claim that a unit of time is indivisible; (2) the lack of any empirical evidence for the very existence of an atomic unit of time.
Dorato, M. (2020). Atomism in philosophy. A history from antiquity to the present. In Ugo Zilioli (a cura di), Atomism in Philosophy A History from Antiquity to the Present (pp. 342-355).
Atomism in philosophy. A history from antiquity to the present
DORATO
2020-01-01
Abstract
The chapter addresses the question whether, in light of the innovation introduced by the discoveries of contemporary (quantum) physics, we may conceive of time as ultimately atomic, that is, as composed of time units, not further reducible to anything more atomic in terms of time. My answer to this question verges towards a ‘No’. I see two main difficulties in taking time as discrete: (1) the difficulty to understand properly and fully the claim that a unit of time is indivisible; (2) the lack of any empirical evidence for the very existence of an atomic unit of time.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
