Spatialization of Time in Special Relativity: Implications for African and Process Conceptions of Time
摘要
This chapter explores how African and process metaphysics can enter contemporary debates on time, in the physical sciences. The discourse on what time means, remains one of the perennial topics in the history of philosophy, and even in the physical sciences, where substance-based metaphysics and classical logic have been the dominant bases for prominent scholarly narratives. Having disclosed, in the previous chapters, how and why substance-based metaphysics and classical logic are inadequate and cannot be relied upon for understanding reality, this paves way for a refreshing analysis of the concept of time. Upon careful consideration, this chapter submits that for the metaphysics of force and becoming, the appropriate way of talking about time is captured in the doctrine of pantemporalism. This offers a fresher background for comprehending the idea of a cosmic “now” in the physical sciences and what implications they may have for African and process thoughts.