The Problem of Time in the Works of P.P. Gaidenko

Abstract

The question of time can be attributed as one of the most important in the works of P.P. Gaidenko. Almost from the very beginning of her philosophical activity it was constantly in the center of her attention. The article briefly traces the main milestones in her consideration of the problem of time – from a dissertation on the philosophy of Heidegger (1963) to a generalizing book “Time. Duration. Eternity. The Problem of Time in European Philosophy and Science” (2006), which sums up many years of Piama Pavlovna’s research on this topic. Here the names of three great Greek thinkers – Plato, Aristotle and Plotinus – appear as symbols of various approaches to understanding time. For a long time, it de­termined the lines of further theoretical research. In the book the internal seman­tic echoes that permeate the entire text are very important. Piama P. Gaidenko shows how some models of the interpretation of time, proposed in Antiquity and then in medieval philosophy, are reproduced in various forms in subsequent eras and testify to the complex interaction of philosophical traditions as well as to a change in ways of thinking. The main lines of research outlined in the book clearly show both continuity and differences in approaches to the philosophical understanding of time in different periods. The book expresses not only the phi­losophical, but also the personal position of Piama P. Gaidenko, which was clearly manifested in the interpretation of the question of the relationship be­tween time and eternity. In this sense, of particular interest is the critique of the characteristic tendency of the philosophy of process, which is reflected in the denial of eternity or understanding it simply as infinite time.