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The rhythm of being: A study of temporality
Book Reviews
lil
that country’s political and econorn~c history and to the wader issues ofthe Enitghtenment In western Europe. It does not. however. despite the title. have anythrng to do with military history and the militia is merely used by the author as a vehicle for an investigation into Scotland‘s cultural progress during the eighteenth century. Indeed. the mihria itself is largely tangential to the thests: Dr. Robertson is concerned with the debate about the necessity of founding a militia. a controversy which he traces through the contributions ofAndrew Fletcher. Davrid Hume. the’hloderate Literate’. Adam Ferguson and Adam Smith. The ‘militia issue’ is nothing more than a medtum by whtch the author reaches to the heart of Scottish Enlightenment political philosophy. Scotland only possessed a militia between 1663 and the Union with England in 1707, although it enjoyed an immense martial tradttton and reputation. Partly. especially for the ‘Moderate Literati’, the impulse to found a Scottish mihtia was an attempt to rediscover Scotland’s lost nationality and identity in the amorphous years following the unpopular Union. although the new militia was to be controlled by a commercially motivated gentry rather than by the old, ‘gothic’ aristocracy. During the Seven \I.ears’ War, a militia was advjocated on the purely practical grounds of resisting a possible French invasion. For David Hume and Adam Smith, the militia was an expresston ofcivic virtues and tradition, a line of argument which placed the Scottish Enlightenment firmly within a European orbit. For Robertson, civic tradition was the key to the interest shown in the militia question by the Scottish philosophers. The armed citizenry of the renaissance cities of Italy and Germany had manifested their independence through their militias giving a positive sign of their distinctive legal and political status. Ctvic militiasalso possessed the connotations of economic primacy and political freedom. As with most books of this type, there is a tendency for the writing to resemble a recitation of the views of various philosophers and Robertson’s own interventions are rather wooden in style and make overmuch use of the first person. However, these are minor grumbles. This is a fine example of the ‘intellectual indirect approach’. or how to probe deeply into a subject from the most rmprobable of angles. John Childs Universir), of Leeds
The Rhythm of Being: A Study ofTemporality, Library, Inc., 19S5), xii + 346 pp., $22.50.
Howard Trivers (New York: Philosophical
Trme is one of the most encompassing but perplexing ideas with which historians must deal. Yet, because a focus on particular time relationships is so fundamental to their study and understanding of historical questions, both scholars and students may easily overlook contemplation and consideration of the more basic concept of time itself, temporality. Human beings are nevertheless temporal creatures, for whom reality has a temporal character, and all history involves temporal perceptions. Thus dealing with the problem of time IS as inescapable as solving it is undoubtedly impossible. Fortunately, there is now available a rich and provocative survey of the many facets of temporality designed for the conscientious but nonspecialist reader. Howard Trivers IS a philosopher and former diplomat who has pondered the nature of time for more than fifty years; he has brought together a lifetime of wide scholarship and an array of careful analyses to create 7%~ Rh,vrhrn of Beitzg. The vvork is divided into three major parts of unequal length: The Temporality of the Universe, The Temporality of the Self, and Time and History. In his introductory examination of mankind’s search to understand the nature oftime, the author stresses the age of Newton and the Enlightenment for their contributions of seminal ideas, especially
ths conceit both
I)( absolute
the :\olutlon
without
cy;l~cul
chronom:trlc abstract
drains upon tndlviduals‘ There
the
u.ith
ideas
gadual
development material
environmental
and
social
modt's
disclpllne
cilncerncd
comxzIc)us
observer
bvith understanding
then devotes
si\-illsatlons
(Lliddle
Eastern.
in history.
Tri\,ers
r-hythms partIcularI)
on
profitably they
rnl>sed
The
just this self-contained
outstanding
attractions
he has structured can
The
.I have
read
and
\Vhen
modern
readers
clearly
important
archlve first
recelvcd
to produce
and given
volume
no comment. here.
and
are
Its
Jttalned
in \5ays
Trl\er\
ha> g~\en
the ~15 ;i
ed. F. Burkhardt
a rich addition The ofall
have
ulth
under
available Items.
so
daunting
revlsw
letters
the
IS
urltten
and
o/‘CharlzsDorwin the magnitude
been previously
and most ofthose
fen
these letters,
to the already
volume
H.M.S.
published.
that
Corrrsporderrce
lists 13,925
Darwin,
vo>nse
is finally
but It is possible
2535 letters
S.
I know them by heart’ I p. I9 1).
that
on his famous
edition
and
f30.
of this
published.
10 him, appear
Of
in print
time. tt‘r predict
573-89
correspondence appropriate
apprvaA
oblectlvrs
1, 1821-1836.
the C‘aletfn’ur o/‘ihr
66 lettersfronz
is
tocub
it ir,doingso
his interpretations
Interpreters.
only
and
rrasoninp.
Profesbor
a claim:
by the editors)
Of these.
the effect
an rytenslon
micro-analysis (pp.
that
compiled
be unfortunate
correspondence
a definltlve
emphail$
of‘ F3errz.g.
will provide
his twentieth-century
that aims
1s to expect
Industry: letters
family.
earl)
t<) identit‘!
wish to do so could
ambitious
set out
such
present.
the major
its lnterdtsciplinar)
> our letters
of Darwin
as the
and
attempts
special
uho
xxix + 701 pp.,
brother
the histor:an
modern
topics
eupressed
volume
19SS).
will be able to venture to Darwin’s
and
and :L?mprljes
\vlth
ot‘ the author’s
are
ho\\
\blth hlhtop :G the
of prehistory.
Yet it would
author’s
17t’
eff~cr::?ly
of the past
Readers
satisfaction.
times
corpus
It IS difficult response
so many
the enormous
the 338 reproduced for the first
the
Darwin,
as her
b) Darwin;
requires
part.
and
Press,
DarLvln
cont‘rontlng
of a series
(3 companion task
reread
those
of Thtp Rh,vrhm
study
University
C‘,lrollne
Beagle.
ease
of Charles
(Cambridge
So wrote
But
with
but enjoyable
of
of the volume
an?. d,Jratlon. and esperxnce
deal,
and
and various
g impact
his prcsentatlon
follow
Correspondence
Smith
last
third
coverage.
succ:ssion
then
:I? explain
of tcmporLlllt>.
to discussions
of Hegel.
of the buildin
of
nonspeciallbt demanding
the
elements
Frslssc
still more closely
reality
Lt’estern).
and
of the %ok
the authorcicmonstrares notIons
of
sc:!:n.
ot‘dl~er>s
Paul
interpenetrations
chapters
Chinese. gives
as both
Inter:rssi-lng
In the perceptitln
temporal
III hi5 treatment
appreciation
comprehcn,l\eness because
subsequent
provocative
ot. time
and
time
part
and
V.lth
pro:re>slon
ph:.slial
Its openin 3 chapter
of Interrelationships
l-he author
Piaget
his obscr\atlons
h,llf of Thtt Rh,vthtr/ q/‘ Be/n:.
than
and
an Inreyratlon
patterns
pcrson>l
connects
III hhlih
The brlet‘mlddlc
Hence
nt'fect
and HIstory
natural
Ilke .Jean
of a sense
types ofprillilti~.esocletles.
more
clarity.
on discernible
time III various
III on Time
the
cirnt!nual
is a rour-[lr-;orcr
rsperience.
skill and
of psychologists
is also valuable
Part
from
H: I\ con<-rnsd
l.l~near
of wa>s
the t?rst bection
t‘rom ordinary great
proyrtss.
v~eu’oft~me
&ntliicatlon
der~vsd
taken
handles
the
lives. Thus
principles
examples
Trlvcrs
phllos~~phlcal
and
of our
thnught.
the u hole ideal of human
modern
repetition’)
control
lllustratl!: that
time and
otthe
social
multiplication towards
of marginalia
lists will
of this
of the trend
manuscript
strengthen
contexts.
and
arcane
alterntlons). recent
Of course.
efforts much
of sources. specialisation
Interpretation However. to
situate
The
~mmedlate
in the Darwinian
of altered
it IS also Darwin
of this has been done
word>
and
possible
that
and
work
wlthout
his
detal!ed
this stud\
In
lil
that country’s political and econorn~c history and to the wader issues ofthe Enitghtenment In western Europe. It does not. however. despite the title. have anythrng to do with military history and the militia is merely used by the author as a vehicle for an investigation into Scotland‘s cultural progress during the eighteenth century. Indeed. the mihria itself is largely tangential to the thests: Dr. Robertson is concerned with the debate about the necessity of founding a militia. a controversy which he traces through the contributions ofAndrew Fletcher. Davrid Hume. the’hloderate Literate’. Adam Ferguson and Adam Smith. The ‘militia issue’ is nothing more than a medtum by whtch the author reaches to the heart of Scottish Enlightenment political philosophy. Scotland only possessed a militia between 1663 and the Union with England in 1707, although it enjoyed an immense martial tradttton and reputation. Partly. especially for the ‘Moderate Literati’, the impulse to found a Scottish mihtia was an attempt to rediscover Scotland’s lost nationality and identity in the amorphous years following the unpopular Union. although the new militia was to be controlled by a commercially motivated gentry rather than by the old, ‘gothic’ aristocracy. During the Seven \I.ears’ War, a militia was advjocated on the purely practical grounds of resisting a possible French invasion. For David Hume and Adam Smith, the militia was an expresston ofcivic virtues and tradition, a line of argument which placed the Scottish Enlightenment firmly within a European orbit. For Robertson, civic tradition was the key to the interest shown in the militia question by the Scottish philosophers. The armed citizenry of the renaissance cities of Italy and Germany had manifested their independence through their militias giving a positive sign of their distinctive legal and political status. Ctvic militiasalso possessed the connotations of economic primacy and political freedom. As with most books of this type, there is a tendency for the writing to resemble a recitation of the views of various philosophers and Robertson’s own interventions are rather wooden in style and make overmuch use of the first person. However, these are minor grumbles. This is a fine example of the ‘intellectual indirect approach’. or how to probe deeply into a subject from the most rmprobable of angles. John Childs Universir), of Leeds
The Rhythm of Being: A Study ofTemporality, Library, Inc., 19S5), xii + 346 pp., $22.50.
Howard Trivers (New York: Philosophical
Trme is one of the most encompassing but perplexing ideas with which historians must deal. Yet, because a focus on particular time relationships is so fundamental to their study and understanding of historical questions, both scholars and students may easily overlook contemplation and consideration of the more basic concept of time itself, temporality. Human beings are nevertheless temporal creatures, for whom reality has a temporal character, and all history involves temporal perceptions. Thus dealing with the problem of time IS as inescapable as solving it is undoubtedly impossible. Fortunately, there is now available a rich and provocative survey of the many facets of temporality designed for the conscientious but nonspecialist reader. Howard Trivers IS a philosopher and former diplomat who has pondered the nature of time for more than fifty years; he has brought together a lifetime of wide scholarship and an array of careful analyses to create 7%~ Rh,vrhrn of Beitzg. The vvork is divided into three major parts of unequal length: The Temporality of the Universe, The Temporality of the Self, and Time and History. In his introductory examination of mankind’s search to understand the nature oftime, the author stresses the age of Newton and the Enlightenment for their contributions of seminal ideas, especially
ths conceit both
I)( absolute
the :\olutlon
without
cy;l~cul
chronom:trlc abstract
drains upon tndlviduals‘ There
the
u.ith
ideas
gadual
development material
environmental
and
social
modt's
disclpllne
cilncerncd
comxzIc)us
observer
bvith understanding
then devotes
si\-illsatlons
(Lliddle
Eastern.
in history.
Tri\,ers
r-hythms partIcularI)
on
profitably they
rnl>sed
The
just this self-contained
outstanding
attractions
he has structured can
The
.I have
read
and
\Vhen
modern
readers
clearly
important
archlve first
recelvcd
to produce
and given
volume
no comment. here.
and
are
Its
Jttalned
in \5ays
Trl\er\
ha> g~\en
the ~15 ;i
ed. F. Burkhardt
a rich addition The ofall
have
ulth
under
available Items.
so
daunting
revlsw
letters
the
IS
urltten
and
o/‘CharlzsDorwin the magnitude
been previously
and most ofthose
fen
these letters,
to the already
volume
H.M.S.
published.
that
Corrrsporderrce
lists 13,925
Darwin,
vo>nse
is finally
but It is possible
2535 letters
S.
I know them by heart’ I p. I9 1).
that
on his famous
edition
and
f30.
of this
published.
10 him, appear
Of
in print
time. tt‘r predict
573-89
correspondence appropriate
apprvaA
oblectlvrs
1, 1821-1836.
the C‘aletfn’ur o/‘ihr
66 lettersfronz
is
tocub
it ir,doingso
his interpretations
Interpreters.
only
and
rrasoninp.
Profesbor
a claim:
by the editors)
Of these.
the effect
an rytenslon
micro-analysis (pp.
that
compiled
be unfortunate
correspondence
a definltlve
emphail$
of‘ F3errz.g.
will provide
his twentieth-century
that aims
1s to expect
Industry: letters
family.
earl)
t<) identit‘!
wish to do so could
ambitious
set out
such
present.
the major
its lnterdtsciplinar)
> our letters
of Darwin
as the
and
attempts
special
uho
xxix + 701 pp.,
brother
the histor:an
modern
topics
eupressed
volume
19SS).
will be able to venture to Darwin’s
and
and :L?mprljes
\vlth
ot‘ the author’s
are
ho\\
\blth hlhtop :G the
of prehistory.
Yet it would
author’s
17t’
eff~cr::?ly
of the past
Readers
satisfaction.
times
corpus
It IS difficult response
so many
the enormous
the 338 reproduced for the first
the
Darwin,
as her
b) Darwin;
requires
part.
and
Press,
DarLvln
cont‘rontlng
of a series
(3 companion task
reread
those
of Thtp Rh,vrhm
study
University
C‘,lrollne
Beagle.
ease
of Charles
(Cambridge
So wrote
But
with
but enjoyable
of
of the volume
an?. d,Jratlon. and esperxnce
deal,
and
and various
g impact
his prcsentatlon
follow
Correspondence
Smith
last
third
coverage.
succ:ssion
then
:I? explain
of tcmporLlllt>.
to discussions
of Hegel.
of the buildin
of
nonspeciallbt demanding
the
elements
Frslssc
still more closely
reality
Lt’estern).
and
of the %ok
the authorcicmonstrares notIons
of
sc:!:n
ot‘dl~er>s
Paul
interpenetrations
chapters
Chinese. gives
as both
Inter:rssi-lng
In the perceptitln
temporal
III hi5 treatment
appreciation
comprehcn,l\eness because
subsequent
provocative
ot. time
and
time
part
and
V.lth
pro:re>slon
ph:.slial
Its openin 3 chapter
of Interrelationships
l-he author
Piaget
his obscr\atlons
h,llf of Thtt Rh,vthtr/ q/‘ Be/n:.
than
and
an Inreyratlon
patterns
pcrson>l
connects
III hhlih
The brlet‘mlddlc
Hence
nt'fect
and HIstory
natural
Ilke .Jean
of a sense
types ofprillilti~.esocletles.
more
clarity.
on discernible
time III various
III on Time
the
cirnt!nual
is a rour-[lr-;orcr
rsperience.
skill and
of psychologists
is also valuable
Part
from
H: I\ con<-rnsd
l.l~near
of wa>s
the t?rst bection
t‘rom ordinary great
proyrtss.
v~eu’oft~me
&ntliicatlon
der~vsd
taken
handles
the
lives. Thus
principles
examples
Trlvcrs
phllos~~phlcal
and
of our
thnught.
the u hole ideal of human
modern
repetition’)
control
lllustratl!: that
time and
otthe
social
multiplication towards
of marginalia
lists will
of this
of the trend
manuscript
strengthen
contexts.
and
arcane
alterntlons). recent
Of course.
efforts much
of sources. specialisation
Interpretation However. to
situate
The
~mmedlate
in the Darwinian
of altered
it IS also Darwin
of this has been done
word>
and
possible
that
and
work
wlthout
his
detal!ed
this stud\
In