Issue #51

Abstract: The article suggests, as its subject matter, the problem of pre-existence of the world: whether there had been any, before the beginning of the Universe, and if the answer is yes, what can we say about it, at least in some initial terms. The author is approaching this question in contexts of physics and cognitive science, addressing also ancient cosmogonies: Egyptian, Indian and Chinese ones. He suggests a number of physical and logical reasons in support of his thesis, which assumes that the role of the pre-existence modality is played by time, as a sort of fundamental nature, and not only as a concept pointing to change and development. Thus, author suggests his variant of substantive theory of time. From the author’s point of view, time is a sort of substance (not expressed in matter and space), which is present behind all the things of the world, including the Universe itself. He also points that time, as a pre-existence modality of all the objects, can be experienced as a kind of ultimate knowledge about every specific thing, in the form of undifferentiated inner sense. Supporting this thesis, author points at some assertions of psychologists and representatives of art, so as at traditions of Japanese and Iranian culture. Author finds out that his conception corresponds well with intuitive guesswork reflected in ancient cosmogonies.