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Hey guys,
I don't feel that I've been
thinking very clearly here of late, so perhaps this isn't the best time to be
posting. It's also perhaps a bit off subject given the discussion
recently. However I wanted to throw some things out there for you guys to
peruse.
I was talking with someone the other day about
formal causation. I told this person that I had for the longest time associated
time with formal cause. They said that formal cause was associated with
"the instructions for building something." So a question such as, "why a
house?", could be answered with, "because of the blueprints." I pointed
out that home builders also have detailed schedules about what things could be
done simultaneously and what things had to be done sequentially and thus my
association of time with formal cause.
I suppose in this view the house is viewed less as
an object than as a consequence of plethora of tasks. The process by which
the same house is built is itself open to design. It could be stated in
the form of conditionals. If such and such a task or tasks
is/are completed then such and such a task or tasks can begin. Time
then is not some interval on an absolute scale but something rather
different.
Just some thoughts (not necessarily clear
thoughts).
David
P.S. Curmudgeon - noun; a surly, ill-mannered,
bad-tempered person; cantankerous fellow.
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