Benussi and the history of temporal displacement

Michele Sinico

pp. 75-93

in: Axiomathes 10, 1999.

Abstract

To summarise, the phenomenon of temporal displacement came to light through astronomy and it formed one of the first problematic issues of experimental psychology. It represented, in fact, a typical case of dissimilarity between the characteristics of physical reality and those of erceptive reality.Nearly a century ago Benussi had, with deep philosophical awareness, grasped the complexity of the phenomenon. Such awareness was derived from his understanding of the sophisticatedGegenstandstheorie that evolved from the Graz theory. Moreover, with great experimental skill, he succeded in formulating and describing the controlled situations in which such a discrepancy manifested itself.Thereore, current research, which is carried out within the difficult discipline of the "psychology of time,' cannot ignore his pioneering contribution.