Time & Perspective Quote by Aristotle

Aristotle ties the existence of time to the activity of a soul that counts. In Physics IV he defines time as the number of motion with respect to before and after. Number is not a free-floating entity; it is what has been counted. If only soul, and within soul mind (nous), is qualified to count, then time as number cannot be actual without a counter. Motion or change (kinesis) may occur regardless of whether any being notices it, but time as counted motion requires a soul capable of marking off the before and after.

This does not make time a mere illusion. Aristotle insists that time is an attribute of change. Before and after belong to motion itself, just as measurable aspects belong to objects even when no one is measuring. But the actualization of number requires a measurer. The world can unfold in ordered sequences; without soul, there is change with a structure that is potentially numberable. The presence of soul turns that potential into an actual number, converting the flowing before-and-after into determinate units of time.

The thought relies on Aristotle’s general metaphysics of potentiality and actuality. Sounds are potentially audible without a hearer, but actually heard only when a hearer is present. In the same way, change is potentially temporal; it becomes time when mind draws boundaries, recognizes succession, and assigns measures. Memory and anticipation are crucial here, because discerning before and after involves holding what has passed and what is coming within a single act of awareness.

The result avoids two extremes. Time is not an independent container that exists even in the absence of change, nor is it a purely subjective projection. It is a real feature of motion, yet its being as time depends on the soul’s ability to count. Time is thus both in the world and in the act of measuring it.