A New Refutation of Time
Encyclopedia
A New Refutation of Time is an essay by Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges
(written between 1944 and 1946) in which he argues that the negations of idealism
may be extended to time. It consists of a prologue and two articles: the first one was written in 1944 and appeared in number 115 of the review Sur; the second, written in 1946, is a rework of the first. Borges comments that he did not combine the two texts into one as the reading of two analogous texts might facilitate the comprehension of an indocile subject.
Just as George Berkeley
denies that there is an object existing independently of our perception of it, and David Hume
denies that there is a subject apart from a mere recollection of sensations, Borges tries to demonstrate that there is no time. He proceeds on the assumption that if "man" is reduced, as according to Hume, to a collection of sensations, then a single repeated perception—either in one man's life or in the experience of two different men—suffices to prove that time is a fallacy, since this repetition will destroy its linear sequence. Paradoxically, Borges closes the essay by refuting his refutation: "The world, unfortunately, is real; I, unfortunately, am Borges."
Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo , known as Jorge Luis Borges , was an Argentine writer, essayist, poet and translator born in Buenos Aires. In 1914 his family moved to Switzerland where he attended school, receiving his baccalauréat from the Collège de Genève in 1918. The family...
(written between 1944 and 1946) in which he argues that the negations of idealism
Idealism
In philosophy, idealism is the family of views which assert that reality, or reality as we can know it, is fundamentally mental, mentally constructed, or otherwise immaterial. Epistemologically, idealism manifests as a skepticism about the possibility of knowing any mind-independent thing...
may be extended to time. It consists of a prologue and two articles: the first one was written in 1944 and appeared in number 115 of the review Sur; the second, written in 1946, is a rework of the first. Borges comments that he did not combine the two texts into one as the reading of two analogous texts might facilitate the comprehension of an indocile subject.
Just as George Berkeley
George Berkeley
George Berkeley , also known as Bishop Berkeley , was an Irish philosopher whose primary achievement was the advancement of a theory he called "immaterialism"...
denies that there is an object existing independently of our perception of it, and David Hume
David Hume
David Hume was a Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist, known especially for his philosophical empiricism and skepticism. He was one of the most important figures in the history of Western philosophy and the Scottish Enlightenment...
denies that there is a subject apart from a mere recollection of sensations, Borges tries to demonstrate that there is no time. He proceeds on the assumption that if "man" is reduced, as according to Hume, to a collection of sensations, then a single repeated perception—either in one man's life or in the experience of two different men—suffices to prove that time is a fallacy, since this repetition will destroy its linear sequence. Paradoxically, Borges closes the essay by refuting his refutation: "The world, unfortunately, is real; I, unfortunately, am Borges."