Time is a mere successon of one’s ideas

The philosopher Berkeley views time as a mere succession of ideas-a puzzling thought.

It may be this way :When we view Time we are not thinking about how individually we perceive the way Time is measured by the movement of the clock but about the passage of Time which is independent of the physical ticking of the clock which only measures the passage of time but is not the passage of time itself.

On the other hand it is ideas that flit through one’s mind which make for the passage of time for you and me .This is because it is succession of ideas that governs our perception of the world irrespective of the “objective reality” and it is the perception which marks our time ,not the clock.

Questions about the length of the rulers and their possible answers

If there is a 10 CM ruler and someone ask you how long is that. The answer should be 10CM. If there is a 5 CM ruler and someone ask you how long is that. The answer should be 5CM. Now, If there isn’t any ruler and someone ask you how long is that. I should answer 0 or “N/A”? In this case, does 0 and “N/A” have the same meaning?

http://www.askphilosophers.org

The question asked about what the length of the ruler is when there is no ruler cannot be answered . Only when there is ruler and that is the one being referred to can the answer be made to this question. There is an assumption behind the question that we are specific about the ruler and it is not any ruler but the ruler and since there is no ruler it is safe to assume that the question has no answer.

More accurately we can say that the question does not arise. It is assumed that the questioner is clear about what ruler he is referring to and the answerer with a reasonable application of mind can decipher what ruler the questioner is referring to .The question will then arise and the answer can be expected.

One ambiguity can arise in answering the question. The questioner can say the ruler can exist with a “zero” length and if the question is about the length of the ruler it is correct to answer “zero”. N/A can also be used if instead of answering the question we say that the question does not beg an answer. Both of course are not the same as N/A would imply the answerer is challenging the correctness of the question itself while in the case of “zero” reply a technically correct answer is being given.