The Authority of Time in Contemporary Arab Philosophical Thought: An Epistemological Study of the Problem of the “Dominant Past” and the “Deferred Future”

Abstract

This study is predicated on the hypothesis that the contemporary Arab philosophical mind suffers not merely from a crisis of cognitive content, but is burdened by a more profound authority: the authority of "time" as an epistemological structure that directs intellectual production and defines its horizon. The researcher seeks to deconstruct the dichotomy of the "dominant past" and the "deferred future" as a generator of a complex crisis. In this context, heritage (tradition) transitions from a living memory into a shackling authority, while the future is relegated to an unattainable, absent utopia. The study adopts a critical-analytical method, underpinned by an epistemological approach, utilizing the texts of Al-Jabri, Arkoun, Laroui, and Taha Abderrahmane as its primary material for analysis. The study concludes that overcoming this crisis necessitates the liberation of temporal consciousness. This can be achieved by reconstructing the "present" as a moment of productive action, rather than a mere transit corridor between two suspended temporalities.