Raymond Tallis

Discussion of articles that appear in the magazine.

Moderators: AMod, iMod

Post Reply
Philosophy Now
Posts: 1205
Joined: Sun Aug 29, 2010 8:49 am

Raymond Tallis

Post by Philosophy Now »

Our columnist has just released a major book on the philosophy of time. Grant Bartley interviews him about Of Time and Lamentation.

https://philosophynow.org/issues/120/Raymond_Tallis
jayjacobus
Posts: 1273
Joined: Wed Jan 27, 2016 9:45 pm

Re: Raymond Tallis

Post by jayjacobus »

Times are relationships. Like all relationships times are constructed by the brain. Relationships are not causative but have an interpretation if there is an interpreter like consciousness. This is a simplistic answer to what time is but leads to an understanding of past, future, before, after, duration motion, change.
jayjacobus
Posts: 1273
Joined: Wed Jan 27, 2016 9:45 pm

Re: Raymond Tallis

Post by jayjacobus »

But what is time in reality? To see that one would need to understand how time occurs outside the brain. In other words remove the brain's representation of time and see what is left.
surreptitious57
Posts: 4257
Joined: Fri Oct 25, 2013 6:09 am

Re: Raymond Tallis

Post by surreptitious57 »

jayjacobus wrote:
But what is time in reality
The distance between events
The passing of an event or events
The passing of a thought or thoughts
jayjacobus
Posts: 1273
Joined: Wed Jan 27, 2016 9:45 pm

Re: Raymond Tallis

Post by jayjacobus »

It's true that distance has meaning to consciousness but is not causative in reality. Events are causative. Time is relational, an index sometimes. Is the index causative?
jayjacobus
Posts: 1273
Joined: Wed Jan 27, 2016 9:45 pm

Re: Raymond Tallis

Post by jayjacobus »

Only when distance hits 0 does causation occur. This is true of all distances including time.
jayjacobus
Posts: 1273
Joined: Wed Jan 27, 2016 9:45 pm

Re: Raymond Tallis

Post by jayjacobus »

The binding problem is factor in the perception of time. How does the brain produce a multiple view of time from separate and sometimes unrelated times. But it does and it must do so to allow consciousness to understand time relationships.
jayjacobus
Posts: 1273
Joined: Wed Jan 27, 2016 9:45 pm

Re: Raymond Tallis

Post by jayjacobus »

I know how duration seems to me. But how does duration exist in reality? If the answer is it doesn't, then duration is constructed by the brain.
spike
Posts: 850
Joined: Thu Oct 22, 2009 3:29 pm

Re: Raymond Tallis

Post by spike »

Really, duration isn't constructed in the brain. Duration is there and developed.
jayjacobus
Posts: 1273
Joined: Wed Jan 27, 2016 9:45 pm

Re: Raymond Tallis

Post by jayjacobus »

Duration is a relationship. Even when two points exit their relationship requires an interpreter. Moreover with time the two points in the duration are separated and don't exist together. So there is no physical relationship. Only a cognitive relationship exists in the mind.
jayjacobus
Posts: 1273
Joined: Wed Jan 27, 2016 9:45 pm

Re: Raymond Tallis

Post by jayjacobus »

A stopwatch has a fixed starting point and a moving second hand but in reality there are no fixed times. "The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,"
jayjacobus
Posts: 1273
Joined: Wed Jan 27, 2016 9:45 pm

Re: Raymond Tallis

Post by jayjacobus »

Duration effects cognition but it doesn't effect reality. It doesn't effect dates, hours, past, future, events, motion, nothing. It gives cognition information for planning, understanding and expectations.
jayjacobus
Posts: 1273
Joined: Wed Jan 27, 2016 9:45 pm

Re: Raymond Tallis

Post by jayjacobus »

Memory creates the cognition of time but memory doesn't create time.
jayjacobus
Posts: 1273
Joined: Wed Jan 27, 2016 9:45 pm

Re: Raymond Tallis

Post by jayjacobus »

Cognition sees distance as one whole while distance is really many, many spaces. Cognition does not see distance as many spaces but travel is travel through each space in succession. The same observation can be made about time.
jayjacobus
Posts: 1273
Joined: Wed Jan 27, 2016 9:45 pm

Re: Raymond Tallis

Post by jayjacobus »

The brain creates a model of reality and cognition is only aware of the model.
Post Reply