Abstract
As far as the philosophy of time is concerned, more specifically of cosmic time, the ancient Greek philosophers still provide a basic reference. Out of the small number of possible solutions, they clearly formulated three: those of Democritus, Plato and Aristotle. Among the three, one, at best, that of Plato, if carefully qualified, implied a beginning of the world. By contrast, such a beginning was categorically asserted in the Book of Genesis. It was taken by the Christians as an untouchable dogma. They were at pains to build a philosophy grounded on the Greek tradition and the Judaic dogma.
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Notes
Diels-Kranz, Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 8th ed. 67 A 21 (II, p. 76); 68 A I (37) (II, p. 84); 68 A 40 (II, p. 94)
ibid. 68 A 82 (II, p. 104)
ibid. 68 A 66–67 (II, p. 101).
Phaedo 97 b-c.
Timaeus 29–31a.
ibid. 37 d.
ibid. 38
Metaphys. 1071b–1072a.
Metaphys. 1071b–1072a; de Caelo 279a 15–20.
Physics 278b 3.
Metaphys. 1072a.
ibid. 1072b
de Caelo 270b 14.
Book XI. xii 14
ibid, xiii 16
ibid, xiv 17, in fine.
ibid, xxiii 30, in fine.
Commentary on the de Caelo I, lect. 29.
On this, see F. C. Haber “The Cathedral Clock and the Cosmological Clock Metaphor,” The Study of Time II (New York: Springer Verlag, 1975).
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Merleau-Ponty, J. (1978). Ideas of Beginnings and Endings in Cosmology. In: Fraser, J.T., Lawrence, N., Park, D.A. (eds) The Study of Time III. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-6287-9_15
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