Simultaneity and Delay: A Dialectical Theory of Staggered Time

Description

Through original speculations on the surprisingly complementary concepts of simultaneity and delay, and new interpretations of the great philosophers of time, this book proposes an innovative theory of staggered time. In the early 20th Century, Bergson and Husserl (following Einstein) made Simultaneity-what it means for events to occur at the same time-a central motif in philosophy. In the late 20th Century, Derrida and Deleuze instead emphasized Delay-events staggered over distant times. This struggle between convergent and staggered time also plays out in 20th Century aesthetics (especially music), politics, and the sciences. Despite their importance in the history of philosophy, this is the first book to comprehensively examine the concepts of simultaneity and delay. By putting simultaneity and delay into a dialectical relation, this book argues that time in general is organized by elastic rhythms. Lampert's concepts describe the time-structures of such diverse phenomena as atonal music, political decision-making, neuronal delays, leaps of memory and the boredom of waiting; and simultaneities and delays in everyday experience and behaviour.

Jay Lampert is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

Simultaneity and Delay goes to the heart of all contemporary philosophical thinking in the continental tradition. Lampert has provided us with a tremendous insight into the fundamental experience of time: there is no single structure of time since time is multiple. Indeed, by gathering the phenomena of time, by studying past philosophers (major recent figures such as Bergson, Husserl, Derrida, and Deleuze, and historical figures such as Plato, Plotinus, Kant, and Hegel), and finally by deducing consequences from principles, Lampert has opened the possibility, for us, to systematize, finally, the experiences of time. Simultaneity and Delay is a great book. -- Leonard Lawlor, Sparks Professor of Philosophy, Penn State University, USA Time is a mystery, as everyone knows: but Jay Lampert has performed an extraordinary service by his encyclopedic, yet exciting, exploration of the varieties of theories of time in philosophy as well as in culture generally, including the sciences and politics, but also modern music as a particularly rich field. The twin themes of simultaneity and delay do not reduce this stunning theoretical proliferation, but they cut paths through the thicket which make our own forays into it productive. This is a book that will last. -- Fredric Jameson, William A. Lane Professor of Comparative Literature and Romance Studies, Duke University, USA Lampert convincingly shows how a dialectic of simultaneity and delay can address the temporal problems generated by Husserl and Bergson. As such, his impressive book has much to offer for anyone interested in the problem of time. * Radical Philosophy 176, November/ September 2012 *