Time is a concept that history’s great minds have grappled with through the centuries, with many of them reaching varying conclusions. Specifically, the time that we will be examining is the time in “It’s Time to Change your Favorites,” or that window of reflection in one’s life that might serve as a catalyst for deep and personal growth. And if we examine both the conflicting ideas of great thinkers like Plato and Aristotle on time with that of time as an introspective tool, we may uncover universal truths that heighten our understanding and relationship with time in our own lives.
In one of his dialogues titled “Timaeus,” Plato describes time as a “celestial movement” or “the moving image of eternity,” with true change only being possible in the present alone, not in what was or what will be. Aristotle, on the other hand, separated the concept of time from physical movement, instead viewing it as a number or unit of measurement subject to change.
Aristotle believed that time was not change itself, but was dependent upon it, even in relation to both the past and future. Indeed, in our own examination of time in “It’s Time to Change your Favorites,” the connection between time and change is key, as they are inextricably linked. It is a natural cause and effect of both motion and rudimentary action as Plato posits, but also of a change that is informed by the past and the future, as Aristotle writes.
Both philosophers acknowledge the relationship between time and change, just as we as rational, self-improving beings cannot deny this link in our own lives. Time inevitably gives way to change, be it environmental or personal, but we as people constantly striving for improvement have the power to harness this change for ourselves. When we are cognizant of this reality, we are truly open to the endless possibilities of change, a change as natural as a sunrise and attainable to anyone looking both outward and within.