Ancient Chinese and Ancient Greek Perception of Temporality: Comparative Aspect and Connection With Modernity

Abstract

The article is devoted to the problem of interpreting the essence of temporal flows in Ancient Chinese and Ancient Greek philosophical traditions. It is emphasized that the sense of the passage of time is the cornerstone of the formation of any civilizational system, because it introduces the production of retrospective and prospective images, on which any prolonged activity is based. The state of human consciousness is seen as a key to the interpretation of temporal transit between modes of the past, present, and future, and the Ancient Chinese and Ancient Greek traditions offer two diametrically different approaches to define this state. The purpose of our research is to compare temporal interpretations in the civilizational systems of Ancient China and Ancient Greece and to determine which elements of them are present in modern temporal orientations in the global world and can serve as a guidelines for their improvement. In this aspect we also proclaim the relevance of our research, its resonance with today's challenges. In the course of our research, we came to the conclusion that the Ancient Chinese tradition emphasizes the intuitive perception of time flows, and this intuition is based on the cyclic patterns of transformations of natural processes, which are based on the circulation of yang and yin energies. The task of a person is to maximally purify consciousness from egocentrism, from trying to occupy a central place in the world system. The Ancient Greek tradition in the opposite way brings the phenomenon of human consciousness on the forefront of temporal interpretations.Temporal interpretation becomes possible and prognostic precisely because human consciousness chooses a certain temporal narrative, plot, logos of the unfolding of events and interprets time on a previously given position. Two methods of orientation in temporal flows, invented in Ancient China and Ancient Greece, can become important guidelines for a modern person who faces new temporal challenges. In particular, these two approaches make it possible to carry out information storage in a different manner, which, in turn, directly affects the orderliness of the temporal flow in human consciousness in the era of groundbreaking technological changes.