SOCRATES

Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access
Open Access Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Restricted Access Subscription Access

The Metaphysics of the Time-Machine


Affiliations
1 The University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece
     

   Subscribe/Renew Journal


The concept of time-travel is a modern idea which combines the imaginary signification of rational domination, the imaginary signification of technological omnipotence, the imaginary concept of eternity and the imaginary desire for immortality.

It is a synthesis of central conceptual schemata of techno-science, such as the linearity and homogeneity of time, the radical separation of subjectivity from the world, the radical separation of the individual from his/her social-historical environment. The emergence of this idea, its spread during the 20th century as a major theme of science fiction literature alongside its dissemination as a scientific hypothesis, its popularity with both the public and the scientific community, are indications of the religious role of techno-science.

It is my opinion, finally, that, as a chimera, time-travel is non-feasible and impossible.

In order to support my claims, I will briefly outline the origins of the time-travel concept and its epistemological and metaphysical/ontological conditions. If these conditions prove to be absurd, the logical impossibility of time-travel will have been demonstrated.


Keywords

Time Travel, Time-Machine, Temporality, Ontology.
User
Subscription Login to verify subscription
Notifications
Font Size

  • Anders, G., & Eatherly, C. (1961). Burning Conscience: The case of the Hiroshima pilot, London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson.

  • Castoriadis, C. (1997). The Castoriadis Reader, ed. D.A. Curtis, Oxford: Blackwell.

  • Castoriadis, C. (2008). Fait e à faire. Les Carrefours du labyrinthe, Paris: Points.

  • DeWitt, B. S. (1970). ‘Quantum Mechanics and Reality’, Physics Today 23 (9): 30-40.

  • Einstein, A. (1905). ‘On the electrodynamics of moving bodies’, Annalen Phys. 17: 891-921.

  • Fukuyama, F. (1992). The End of History and the Last Man, New York: Free Press.

  • Gleick, J. (2017). Time Travel. London: 4th Estate.

  • Goldin, J. (1988). ‘On Honi the Circle Maker: A demanding prayer’, Studies in Midrash and Related Literature, Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society.

  • Hawking, S. W. (1992) ‘Chronology Protection Conjecture’, Physics Review D. 46 (2): 603-611.

  • Kim, S. W., & Thorne, K. S. (1991) ‘Do vacuum fluctuations prevent the creation of closed timelike curves?’, Physical Review, D. 43 (12): 3929-3947.

  • Koselleck, R. (2004). Futures Past. New York: Columbia University Press.

  • Lewis, D. (1976). ‘The Paradoxes of Time Travel’. American Philosophical Quarterly 13 (2): 145-152.

  • Merleau-Ponty, M. (2002). Phenomenology of Perception, tr. C. Smith, London: Routledge.

  • Mumford, L. (1967). The myth of the machine I: Technics and Human Development. N. York: Harcourt Brace.

  • Proust, M. (2000) Time Regained, tr. A. Mayor & T. Kilmartin, London: Vintage Books.

  • Schismenos, A. (2016). ‘The ontological revolution. On the phenomenology of the Internet. SOCRATES 4 (2): 56-67.

  • Titor, J. (2001), Original posts retrieved from http://www.johntitor.com/ (last visit, December 28, 2018, 21.07)

  • Wells, H. G. (1895) The Time Machine, London: Heinemann.


Abstract Views: 496

PDF Views: 0




  • The Metaphysics of the Time-Machine

Abstract Views: 496  |  PDF Views: 0

Authors

Alexandros Schismenos
The University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece

Abstract


The concept of time-travel is a modern idea which combines the imaginary signification of rational domination, the imaginary signification of technological omnipotence, the imaginary concept of eternity and the imaginary desire for immortality.

It is a synthesis of central conceptual schemata of techno-science, such as the linearity and homogeneity of time, the radical separation of subjectivity from the world, the radical separation of the individual from his/her social-historical environment. The emergence of this idea, its spread during the 20th century as a major theme of science fiction literature alongside its dissemination as a scientific hypothesis, its popularity with both the public and the scientific community, are indications of the religious role of techno-science.

It is my opinion, finally, that, as a chimera, time-travel is non-feasible and impossible.

In order to support my claims, I will briefly outline the origins of the time-travel concept and its epistemological and metaphysical/ontological conditions. If these conditions prove to be absurd, the logical impossibility of time-travel will have been demonstrated.


Keywords


Time Travel, Time-Machine, Temporality, Ontology.

References