Eternity

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Eternity, also forever, in common parlance, is an infinite amount of time that never ends or the quality, condition or fact of being everlasting or eternal. [1] Classical philosophy, however, defines eternity as what is timeless or exists outside time, whereas sempiternity corresponds to infinite duration.

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Philosophy

Classical period (8th century BC - 5th century AD) [a] Aristotle suggested an eternal world (in Physics ) [2] in regard to both past and future eternal duration. The thought of Classical period Augustine, as exists in Book XI of the Confessions, and Boethius (c. 480–524 AD), in Book V of the Consolation of Philosophy were adopted as the reality of the subject for later thinkers in the western tradition of philosophy and in theology. [3] Classical philosophy defines eternity as what exists outside time, as in describing timeless supernatural beings and forces, distinguished from sempiternity which corresponds to infinite time, as described in requiem prayers for the dead.[ which? ] Boethius defined eternity as "simultaneously full and perfect possession of interminable life". [4] [b]

Thomas Aquinas (c. 1225 – 1274) believed in an eternal God, without either a beginning or end; the concept of eternity is of divine simplicity, thus incapable of being defined or fully understood by humankind. [5] Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679) and many others in the Age of Enlightenment drew on the classical distinction to put forward metaphysical hypotheses such as "eternity is a permanent now". [6]

Contemporary philosophy and physics

Today cosmologists, philosophers, and others look towards analyses of the concept from across cultures and history. They debate, among other things, whether an absolute concept of eternity has real application for fundamental laws of physics; compare the issue of entropy as an arrow of time.

Religion

Eternity as infinite duration is an important concept in many lives and religions. God or gods are often said to endure eternally, or exist for all time, forever, without beginning or end. Religious views of an afterlife may speak of it in terms of eternity or eternal life. [c] Christian theologians may regard immutability, like the eternal Platonic forms, as essential to eternity. [7] [d]

Symbolism

Eternity is often symbolized by the endless snake, swallowing its own tail, the ouroboros. The circle, band, or ring is also commonly used as a symbol for eternity, as is the mathematical symbol of infinity, . Symbolically these are reminders that eternity has no beginning or end.

See also

Notes

    1. ↑ The precise end date of this period is disputed, with estimates ranging from the 3rd–8th centuries AD. Traditionally, it is given as the late 5th century AD.
    2. ↑ Boethius (523), book 5, prose §. 6, quote: "Aeternitas igitur est interminabilis vitae tota simul et perfecta possessio."
    3. ↑ For examples: Bassali (2008), p. 138, quote: "In the next life, there will be two places only - heaven and hell. … In heaven, you will spend an eternity of bliss, light, and glory with God. In hell, you will spend an eternity of woe, darkness and torment apart from God. Which of these two places would you prefer to spend your eternity?"
    4. ↑ Deng (2018), quote: "Augustine connects God's timeless eternity to God's being the cause of all times and God's immutability."
    5. ↑ She holds up an hourglass, her elbow above a human skull and in her lower hand two flowers in maturity, one of which is a dandelion blowball or clock (seed head), reminders of transience. An Ouroboros, snake swallowing its own tail, floats above her head as a halo - symbols of eternity.

    References

    1. ↑ "eternity" . Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press.(Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
    2. ↑ "Eternity of the World". Faculty of Theology and Religion. University of Oxford. Archived (Timestamp date invalid) at the Wayback Machine
    3. ↑ Deng, Natalja. Edward N. Zalta; Uri Nodelman (eds.). "Eternity The loci classici". The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2025 Edition).
    4. ↑ Boedder (1902), book 2, ch. 2, "The Eternity of God".
    5. ↑ Helm (2010), §. 6, "Medieval thinkers".
    6. ↑ Hobbes (1662), p. 50.
    7. ↑ Deng (2018), §. 3.1, "The Loci Classici".

    Works cited

    Further reading

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