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The Concept of Time in Presocratics

A Probable Interpretation

Summary/Abstract: This article considers three Presocratic conceptions of time based on: Hesiod’s consideration of time concept in Theogony, reports on Thales astronomical work and Parmenides’ theoretical discussions in the poem On Nature. With respect to Aristotle’s division of science (ἐπιστήμη) presented in Metaphysics, it is possible to interpret these conceptions as phases in historical development of thought (λογικοί) and rational assumptions (λόγοι) in the cognition of the governing principles and laws of the cosmos: from Hesiod’s mythical thought, a primitive type of an ancient wisdom that linked the time to the chaos (χάος), across Thales’ technological (τέχνη) time measuring (χρόνος) of the astronomical phenomena for practical purposes or goals, to Parmenides’ theoretical (methaphysical) deliberations that linked the time to the being, in orientation to cognition for the purpose of knowledge itself. One possible explanation for the relationship of these concepts is the idea of the loose link of changes from χάος across χρόνος to κόσμος, that is, from unarranged world, which prevents rational managing, over measuring the movements of visible bodies, to the highly theoretical definition of being.

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