The conflict between the static and the dynamic theory of time in its relation to Von Wright's work and to human freedom

Mauro Dorato

pp. 131-138

in: Rosaria Egidi (ed), In search of a new humanism, Berlin, Springer, 1999

Abstract

Von Wright's work has been characterized by an intense interest in the logic and the philosophy of time, dating back to his famous articles in the mid-sixties, "And Next" (1965), "And Then" (1966) and "Always' (1968), and to a paper that has been widely discussed in Italy, namely "Time, Change and Contradiction" (1969), which seemed to suggest the possibility of a formalization of dialectic logic in a moment in which Marxism held a strong grip on many Italian intellectuals. I think it is safe to assume that von Wright's interest in temporal logic was spurred both by his interest in modal logic — temporal and modal concepts have strong structural analogies and can be given a similar semantics — and by his concern for a theory of human action which could make room for a genuine notion of change and for our freedom (1980).

Cited authors

Marx Karl