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Titre
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Poincaré, Sartre, Continuity, and Temporality
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Description
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In this paper, I examine the relation between Henri Poincaré’s definition of mathematical continuity and Sartre’s discussion of temporality in Being and Nothingness. Poincaré states that a series A, B, and C is continuous when A=B, B=C and A is less than C. I explicate Poincaré’s definition and examine the arguments that he uses to arrive at this definition. I argue that Poincaré’s definition is applicable to temporal series, and I show that this definition of continuity provides a logical basis for Sartre’s psychological explanation of temporality. Specifically, I demonstrate that Poincaré’s definition allows the for-itself to be understood both as connected to a past and future and as distinct from itself. I conclude that the gap between two terms in a temporal series comprises the present and being-for-itself, since it is this gap that occasions the radical freedom to reshape the past into a distinct and different future.
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Sujet
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Philosophie
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Créateur
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Gingerich, Jonathan
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Source
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Journal of the British Society for Phenomenology, Vol. 37, No. 3, October 2006
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Date
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2006-10
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Format
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application/pdf
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Langue
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en
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Type
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Article de revue