Time's Up: The Story of Time Weaving Physics and Philosophy

About The Book

What is time? How does it originate? How will it end? Has it an end? What is its relation to life? Can we at all visualise life without time. and time without life? Time and life are intimately interlinked.
A modest attempt is made in this book to answer these significant questions from the perspective of science (physics), philosophy and theology. It is emphasised that time has a narrative (historical and fictive) function in our lives. This enables us to visualise time as constitutive us, including all our activities and non-activities. Thus times lives essentially in our human hearts.

About the Author

Dr Kuruvilla Pandikattu SJ (born 1957-) is a professor of Physics, Philosophy and Religion and former Dean (2013-21) at Jnana Deepa, Institute of Philosophy and Theology, Pune, India. Actively involved in the dialogue between science and religion, he has authored/edited more than 45 books and 210 academic articles, Pandikattu is a Jesuit priest belonging to Dumka-Raiganj Province, India. Main topics of his research: science-religion dialogue, anthropology, eschatology, life-management and transhumanism.

Introduction

What is time? How is it related to living and dying? Why is time so significant for change and development? What can we learn from science and philosophy regarding this crucial dimension of our life? Time, the mystery and the miracle of living and dying, is the focus of this book.

Having a Sense of Time

Time has always been a philosophical and existential problem. Where does time exist? In Book 11 of his Confessions, Augustine makes a thorough examination of time. When is time? Thus replies the Bishop of Hippo:

What then is time? If no one asks me, I know; if I want to explain it
to someone who asks me, I do not know. I can state with confidence,
however, this much I do know: if nothing passed away [praeterinet], there
would be no past time [praeteritum tempus); if there was nothing still
on its way [adveniret] there would be no future [futurum tempus]; and if
nothing existed [esser], there would be no present time [praesens tempus]
(Augustine, 1961: XI.14/17).

Time permeates our whole life and being. One of the most frequent questions in life is "What is the time?" Strangers use it sometimes even to start a conversation. The watch and the clock, the deputies for the sun and the stars remind us that it is time to get up, time to begin the classes; they regulate our sleeping and waking our daily routine; they determine our plans and even our lives. The nerve cells of our brain do pulsate at regular or irregular frequencies depending on the health of our brain cells. The rhythmic movement extends from the day-night cycle to seasons to the cycle of life and death. Time governs not just our activity but our very being. **Contents and Sample Pages**