ABSTRACT
Why should measurement be such a challenge for social time theory? This chapter attempts to answer this question by returning to the roots of (Western) time theory and exploring the oppositional ideas of some of the most prominent historical thinkers. It traces the divergence of ideas, beginning with the contrast between the reductionism of Aristotle and the absolutism of Plato. It finds this same disagreement echoed in Leibniz’s conversations with Newton and again in Bergson’s disagreement with Einstein. Through tracing this history, the chapter describes how philosophers, scientists and psychologists have wrestled with the problem of time, and how different priorities have produced two approaches to time that seem fundamentally irreconcilable. The chapter considers a rationale for the separation of the subjective and scientific positions on time, and describes the problems that are created by it for both the social and the physical sciences. Finally, the chapter considers recent developments in theoretical physics and wonders whether these advances might have interesting implications for social time theory.
