more from this thinker | more from this text
Full Idea
Not only do we measure change by time, but time by change also, because they are defined by one another.
Gist of Idea
We measure change by time, and time by change, as they are interdefined
Source
Aristotle (Physics [c.337 BCE], 220b14)
Book Ref
Aristotle: 'Physics Books III and IV', ed/tr. Hussey,Edward [OUP 1983], p.46
A Reaction
He defends the idea that time is the 'number' of change, but this idea should sound a warning bell. He rejects the idea that time IS change. It is seems instrumentalist to make the existence of time depend on its measurement.
Related Idea
Idea 22959 Time is not change, but the number we associate with change [Aristotle]
22963 | We measure change by time, and time by change, as they are interdefined [Aristotle] |
22968 | Circular motion is the most obvious measure of time, and especially the celestial sphere [Aristotle] |
17015 | If there is no uniform motion, we cannot exactly measure time [Newton] |
12487 | We can never show that two successive periods of time were equal [Locke] |
22882 | We use calendars for the order of events, and clocks for their passing [Bardon] |