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211905

Time in history and culture

Klaus Mainzer

pp. 137-159

Abstract

Historical cultures, like individuals, developed different internal times in the course of their evolution. As a result, philosophers of history have offered different temporal models to explain the birth and demise of historical cultures. The theory of complex system also allows us to model the dynamical development of social, economic, and cultural systems. In this chapter, we will learn that at least some aspects of irreversible temporal developments in human society may be analyzed by methods analogous to those used for physical and biological processes. But this does not imply a naturalistic reductionism. In historical and technological cultures, time represents the emergence of a new phase of biological and socio-cultural evolution.

Publication details

Published in:

Mainzer Klaus (2002) The little book of time. New York City, Copernicus.

Pages: 137-159

DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4757-4332-6_8

Full citation:

Mainzer Klaus (2002) Time in history and culture, In: The little book of time, New York City, Copernicus, 137–159.