Hans-Georg Gadamer points out that every envisaged or anticipated event opens up a scope of being „not-yet“ – a space that must be filled – thereby establishing a temporal perspective (or „empty time“). So Time can be interpreted, in the sense of the Augustinian “distentio animi”, as an expression of the tension inherent in one’s momentary inner state as conditioned by external circumstances. Consciousness moves not within the realm of the factual, but within a virtual space of potential continuations – possibilities taking the form of „not-yet“ events. It is intentionally directed toward such possibilities. This implies neither that these events occur spontaneously nor that they can be brought about in actuality. A potential event gives rise to a virtual timeframe that can serve to orient action. Viewed in this light, we can see the horizons of meaning found in Martin Heidegger’s concept of „Being-towards-death“ as “Sorge” (care/concern) and in Emanuel Levinas’s perspective regarding the continual deferral of inevitable death. In both cases, time emerges as a conceptual expression of one’s inner state.

Literature:

Gadamer, Hans-Georg, Über leere und erfüllte Zeit, in Zimmerl/Sandbothe, Klassiker der modernen Zeitphilosophie (2. Auflage, 2007), S. 281 ff.

Further Reading:

Why Time at all? (Time-Subjects)
Martin Heidegger’s Concept of Time

Keywords:

Gadamer, Levinas, Heidegger, Finitude, living and dying

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