Life’s present continuously stretches into the future rather than aiming at fixed goals
Evidence
The future is most inadequately characterized by defining man as the “goal-setting being.” The somehow remote “goal” appears as a fixed point, discontinuous with the present, whereas what is decisive is the immediate carryover of present will, feeling, and thought into the future. The living present exists in the fact that it transcends the present. With every exertion of the will, here and now, we demonstrate that a threshold between now and the future is just not real; that as soon as we assume such a threshold, we stand at once on this side and on that side of it. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 807
Categorization
- XREF: connects to: Complete absorption in the present makes future commitment impossible — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 468; Life alone realizes time by transcending the present in both directions — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 808; Lived life always experiences the present as stretched with past and future — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 803 (+9 more)
Related
- Lived life always experiences the present as stretched with past and future (similarity 0.86)
- Life alone realizes time by transcending the present in both directions (similarity 0.86)
- The horizon is constantly moving, offering short bursts of validation but never final arrival. (similarity 0.81)
- Life is simultaneously boundless continuity and boundary-determined ego (similarity 0.80)
- Complete absorption in the present makes future commitment impossible (similarity 0.80)
- Life’s self-transcendence makes time real, unlike analytical separation of tenses (similarity 0.79)
- The present is a perpetual flight from being rather than a moment (similarity 0.79)
- Life finds only illusory goals and ultimate disappointment when confined to itself (similarity 0.79)
- Life both requires and overflows every determinate form (similarity 0.79)
- The concept of life frames the fundamental decisions of modern existence (similarity 0.78)
Broader Connections
- Lived life always experiences the present as stretched with past and future
#corroborates(0.80) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 803 - A performing life requires constant purposeful movement toward goals
#contradicts(0.70) — Pauline Oliveros, Deep Listening, 359 - Life is simultaneously boundless continuity and boundary-determined ego
#expands(0.50) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 811