PRESENTATION
Good news: time is in focus in this number of Interface. At least since Hegel, for whom Man is identical to time, since he only is as the Being is suppressed and as he is projected into a series of transformations, time has been at the hub of the historical project we call modernity. This project looked at human emancipation in history, the humanization of time from the historical conscience, the mythical time of repetitive natural cycles that are taken over by human action that is conscious of itself.
This project of clarification, however, mainly developed its technological side by converting knowledge into a productive force and the domination of nature, and which left us with an immutable and cyclical time (Debord), a mythical time based on property (Adorno), linear and empty time (Benjamin). This is not an environment in which man is fulfilled or which is inherent to him, but an environment that dominates him. The basis of the existence of time in society is the machine we use for clocking on for work: time roars!
So the reflections in this work are very welcome. Each person, in his or her own way, should contribute in order to bring to the center of the debate the concept of time and its impact on the life of individuals. Marcelo Carbone Carneiro looks at the concept of time from the point of view of the works of St Augustine, Hume and Kant, thinkers who dealt with it as a subjective elaboration, in other words, as something that had no reality outside the subject. The presentation of the concepts of these three philosophers is opportune because, just like a telescope that shows us in time the light of the stars, it allows us to talk to the past, by recovering from tradition ideas that still can find echoes in current issues, or which, at the every least, allows us to distance ourselves relatively speaking from the immediate present. This is fundamental for any historical perspective.
Alfredo Pereira Júnior and Ivan Amaral Guerrini underline the importance of temporality in relation to the processes of health and sickness, especially in cases of mental sickness, thus bringing it into the centre of the debate. The authors point out that if we adopt an understanding of time as being non-linear, or fractal time, in health there would be a temporality based on a coherent pattern of self-similarity that emerges from the irregularity that characterizes time, while in sickness there would be subjective processes, characterized by temporal disorganization. This concept leads to various consequences that go from the preparation of new strategies for treating sickness to changes in pharmacological regimes and in the way of understanding certain pathologies.
In yet another critical contribution on the linear concept of time, Jonas Gonçalves Coelho discusses "Being and Time" according to Bergson. For this philosopher also time is perceived subjectively; furthermore Man can perceive time consciously and can see himself in time, thanks to his memory. From his interior temporality man attributes temporality to external events and because of this the concept of duration, which is central to the Bersgonian concept, is discussed in depth in the text. This philosopher's concept of time allows for an understanding of the subjective existence of time in relation to the practical life, thereby contributing to a critical assessment of the period in which we live.
This edition the magazine also present various relevant contributions to the debate in the areas of health, education and communication. It deals especially with issues of education and social participation. The reading of these texts, linked to the issue dealt with in the file, highlights the historical importance of the themes discussed and links them to an historic understanding of time. The debate contributes in such a way that the time of things, a characteristic of the laws of goods, can be understood and criticized by people who work in education, health and communication, areas in which undoubtedly the rules of capital ought not to prevail.
Ari Fernando Maia,
Psycologist.
PhD, Psycology Department, College of Ciences, Unesp, Bauru
Publication Dates
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Publication in this collection
15 Sept 2008 -
Date of issue
Aug 2004
