Eternity

Short description: Time that never ends

Eternity, in common parlance, means infinite time that never ends (or the quality, condition or fact of being eternal).^[1] Classical philosophy, however, defines eternity as what exists outside time - as in describing supernatural beings and forces, whereas sempiternity corresponds to the infinitely temporal, non-metaphoric definitions, as recited in requiem prayers for the dead.^{[clarification needed]} 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".^[2]

Eternity as infinite duration is an important concept in many lives and religions, where the identity of god or gods are said to endure eternally. Religious views of an afterlife may speak of it in terms of eternity.^[3] Some thinkers, such as Aristotle, suggest the eternity of the natural cosmos in regard to both past and future eternal duration - Christian theologians may regard immutability - like the eternal Platonic forms - as essential.^[4] Today cosmologists, philosophers, and others look to 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 the arrow of time in entropy.

Philosophy

Boethius defined eternity as "simultaneously full and perfect possession of interminable life".^[5]

Symbolism

Eternity is often symbolized by the endless snake, swallowing its own tail, the ouroboros (or oroboros). The circle, band or ring is also commonly used as a symbol for eternity, as is the mathematical symbol of infinity, [math]\displaystyle{ \infty }[/math]. Symbolically these are reminders that eternity has no beginning/end.

The Ouroboros
The "endless knot," a symbol of eternity used in Tibetan Buddhism
Infinity symbol variations
Folk-art allegorical map "The 3 Roads to Eternity" from Matthew 7:13-14 by the woodcutter Georgin François in 1825.
An allegorical classical woman c.1670s, representing eternity.^{[lower-alpha 1]}

Notes

↑ 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

↑ "eternity, n." 1. and 2. OED Online. September 2011. Oxford University Press. https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/64704 (accessed October 26, 2019).
↑ Mr. Hobbes Considered in his Loyalty, Religion, Reputation, and Manners. By way of Letter to Dr.cornwallis (English autobiography) F. Hobbes, 1662 at p.50.
↑ For examples: Bassali, Maurice (2008). Where Will You Spend Eternity?. Xulon Press. p. 138. ISBN 9781606473276. https://books.google.com/books?id=aoEha2bAEvgC. Retrieved 30 April 2021. "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 whould you prefer to spend your eternity?"
↑ "Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Eternity in Christian Thought". Plato.stanford.edu. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/eternity/#Ety. "Augustine connects God's timeless eternity to God's being the cause of all times and God's immutability."
↑ Boedder, Bernard. "Natural Theology". University of Notre Dame. http://www3.nd.edu/Departments/Maritain/etext/nath34.htm. "Aeternitas est interminablis vitae tota simul et perfecta possessio"

External links

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/eternity/ Entry in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy on Eternity.
http://www.iep.utm.edu/g/god-time.htm Entry in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy on the relationship between God and Time.

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[6] 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.

[1] "eternity, n." 1. and 2. OED Online. September 2011. Oxford University Press. https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/64704 (accessed October 26, 2019).

[2] Mr. Hobbes Considered in his Loyalty, Religion, Reputation, and Manners. By way of Letter to Dr.cornwallis (English autobiography) F. Hobbes, 1662 at p.50.

[3] For examples: Bassali, Maurice (2008). Where Will You Spend Eternity?. Xulon Press. p. 138. ISBN 9781606473276. https://books.google.com/books?id=aoEha2bAEvgC. Retrieved 30 April 2021. "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 whould you prefer to spend your eternity?"

[4] "Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Eternity in Christian Thought". Plato.stanford.edu. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/eternity/#Ety. "Augustine connects God's timeless eternity to God's being the cause of all times and God's immutability."

[5] Boedder, Bernard. "Natural Theology". University of Notre Dame. http://www3.nd.edu/Departments/Maritain/etext/nath34.htm. "Aeternitas est interminablis vitae tota simul et perfecta possessio"

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v t e Philosophy of time
Concepts in time	Time A priori and a posteriori A series and B series Action Deterministic system Duration Eternal return Eternity Event Free will Growing block universe Imaginary time Multiple time dimensions Temporal parts
Theories of time	B-theory of time Compatibilism and incompatibilism Determinism Endurantism Eternalism Four-dimensionalism Fatalism Temporal finitism Indeterminism Perdurantism Presentism Static interpretation of time
Related articles	Etiology Metaphysics Post hoc ergo propter hoc Teleology "The Unreality of Time" The Singular Universe and the Reality of Time An Experiment with Time

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Eternity

Topic: Philosophy

Contents

Philosophy

Symbolism

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links