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Single Idea 17012

[from 'Principia Mathematica' by Isaac Newton, in 27. Natural Reality / D. Time / 1. Nature of Time / a. Absolute time ]

Full Idea

Absolute, true, and mathematical time, in and of itself and of its own nature, without reference to anything external, flows uniformly and by another name is called duration.

Gist of Idea

Time exists independently, and flows uniformly

Source

Isaac Newton (Principia Mathematica [1687], Def 8 Schol)

Book Reference

Newton,Isaac: 'Philosophical Writings' [CUP 2004], p.64


A Reaction

This invites the notorious question of, if time flows uniformly, how fast time flows. Maybe we should bite the bullet and say 'one second per second', or maybe we should say 'this fact is beyond our powers of comprehension'.

Related Ideas

Idea 17013 Absolute space is independent, homogeneous and immovable [Newton]

Idea 17015 If there is no uniform motion, we cannot exactly measure time [Newton]