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The Flow of Time

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Part of the book series: Synthese Library ((SYLI,volume 56))

Abstract

Examining the way in which we usually speak about time, the impression is strongly created that time is regarded as something in motion. We regularly talk about time ‘flowing’, ‘passing’, ‘flying’, etc. Of course, we have an approximate knowledge as to the meaning of these terms, but what is their exact significance? When comparing the word ‘flow’ in the expressions ‘the flow of time’ and ‘the flow of water’, ‘the flow of air’, we wonder whether this word ‘flow’ has essentially the same meaning, or whether the resemblance of these expressions is purely superficial, that is, confined to the use of the same word ‘flow’. This article aims at examining whether ‘the flow of time’ could be compared with ‘the flow of a liquid or gas’ in any real sense.

The subject of this paper is dealt with more fully in Zwart (1971), which is, however, written in Dutch.

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© 1973 D. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordrecht-Holland

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Zwart, P.J. (1973). The Flow of Time. In: Suppes, P. (eds) Space, Time and Geometry. Synthese Library, vol 56. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-2650-5_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-2650-5_7

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-2652-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-010-2650-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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