The anachronism of time : actual between Einstein and Bergson / O anacronismo do tempo : um debate atual entre Einstein e Bergson

AUTOR(ES)
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

2007

RESUMO

The starting point of this thesis was the observation of people s reactions in face of the changes introduced to the concept of time by Theory of Relativity. The people I refer to are those who have common sense and who, in general, display a certain level of discomfort in what concerns the multiple measurements of time predicted in the theory. In reacting against this discomfort provoked by the theory, common sense seems to prefer to cling to the absolute character of Newtonian time, in spite of Einstein s a-hundred-year old theory. Hence, the title of the thesis, The Anachronism of Time. The investigation of the above mentioned reactions has revealed a resonance between them and French philosopher Henri Bergson s restlessness concerning the same theme. The 1992 debate about Relativity between Bergson and Einstein raised the question of the philosophical meaning of time but this question was neglected due to the academic and popular success of the theory. Despite false appearances, Bergson didn t want to either preserve absolute time or contest Relativity, but tried to remove from it the intention of reducing the duration to a psycho-logic. For Bergson humanity can construct a complete science through synergies between intelligence and intuition and between physics and metaphysics. This thesis proposes to demonstrate that Bergson saw in Einstein s theory the opportunity to put the question of time to the service of these synergies.

ASSUNTO(S)

relatividade time relativity tempo fisica physics

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