Forms of Time: Unity in Plurality

Abstract

In the present paper we examine different forms of time, focusing especially on the relation between the objective time and time of subjective experience. Experimental data from psychophysical studies on duration perception are presented, and the ‘dual klepsydra model’ of internal time representation is introduced. Relevant notions of abstract chronometry are briefly reviewed, and properties of time-scales generated by ‘klepsydraic clocks’ are studied. It is shown that these time-scales allow for a consistent time-keeping, although they are non-uniform with respect to the objective time. Parallels between our findings and E.A. Milne’s theory, revealing plurality of cosmological time-scales, are pointed out. Unitary and uniform time-scale then appears as an intersubjective construct, arising from communication of shared phenomenal fields by an ensemble of observers. Limits of the presented approach, encountered at the asymptote of cosmological and theological thought, are drawn.

Keywords: Chronometry, clock, cosmic time, dual klepsydra model, duration discrimination, duration reproduction, horological function, klepsydraic clock, klepsydraic reproduction function, Milne’s cosmology, perception of time, psychophysics, subjective time, time scale.