“Time does not flow; it unfolds within relation.”
Everyday realism treats time as an independent, linear backdrop against which events occur. Moments exist whether or not they are perceived; the past is fixed, the future awaits. Cause, identity, and change are measured against this absolute temporal frame.
Relational ontology reframes time entirely. If relation is fundamental, temporal order is not pre-given. Time emerges from patterns of relational persistence, co-actualisation, and differentiation.
1. Temporal Structure as Emergent
Moments do not exist independently of relation. What we call “before” and “after” arises because relational patterns stabilise sequences of articulation:
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A conversation progresses because speakers, language, and context unfold in recognisable patterns.
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A tree grows because interactions among cells, nutrients, light, and environment coalesce into structured development.
Time is the observable trace of relational actualisation, not a container for events.
2. Continuity and Change
Continuity is not the preservation of a substance through absolute time; it is the persistence of relational patterns across successive actualisations.
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Change occurs when patterns shift, differentiate, or recombine.
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Novelty is the introduction of previously unactualised relational possibilities.
Temporal order is thus co-constructed, emergent from relational dynamics rather than imposed externally.
3. Causality and Temporality Intertwined
Relational causality and emergent time are inseparable:
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Patterns of co-actualisation define both sequence and effect.
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“Before” and “after” are manifestations of stabilised relational flows.
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Apparent linearity is the perception of underlying relational coherence.
Time is conditional, patterned, and perspectival, not absolute.
4. Implications for Experience and Thought
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Memory and anticipation: arise from relational persistence and projection.
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Narrative and history: are enacted within networks of relational ordering.
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Prediction and planning: operate by navigating relational patterns, not independent temporal grids.
Relational primacy dissolves the notion of external, universal time. Instead, temporality is produced by relation itself.
Aphorism:“Time is not measured; it is lived in the folds of relation.”
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