On Borrowed Time : The Art and Economy of Living with Deadlines

Life is short. This indisputable fact of existence has driven human ingenuity since antiquity, whether through efforts to lengthen our lives with medicine or shorten the amount of time we spend on work using technology. Alongside this struggle to manage the pressure of life’s ultimate deadline, human perception of the passage and effects of time has also changed. In __On Borrowed Time__, Harald Weinrich examines an extraordinary range of materials—from Hippocrates to __Run Lola Run__—to put forth a new conception of time and its limits that, unlike older models, is firmly grounded in human experience. Weinrich’s analysis of the roots of the word __time__ connects it to the temples of the skull, demonstrating that humans first experienced time in the beating of their pulses. Tracing this corporeal perception of time across literary, religious, and philosophical works, Weinrich concludes that time functions as a kind of sixth sense—the crucial sense that enables the other five. Written with Weinrich’s customary narrative elegance, __On Borrowed Time__ is an absorbing—and, fittingly, succinct—meditation on life’s inexorable brevity. In On Borrowed Time, Harald Weinrich Examines An Extraordinary Range Of Materials - From Hippocrates To Run Lola Run - To Put Forth A New Conception Of Time And Its Limits That, Unlike Older Models, Is Firmly Grounded In Human Experience. Weinrich's Analysis Of The Roots Of The Word Time Connects It To The Temples Of The Skull, Demonstrating That Humans First Experienced Time In The Beating Of Their Pulses. Tracing This Corporeal Perception Of Time Across Literary, Religious, And Philosophical Works, Weinrich Concludes That Time Functions As A Kind Of Sixth Sense - The Crucial Sense That Enables The Other Five.--jacket. 1 Life Is Short, Art Is Long 1 -- Medical Aphorisms And The Movement Of Time / Hippocrates, Aristotle, Theophrastus 1 -- Philosophical Remarks On The Brevity Of Life / Seneca 9 -- Domestic Economy And Time Management / Leon Battista Alberti 12 -- Teaching Time Management In London And Paris / Chesterfield, Rilke 15 -- 2 The Midpoint Of Life 18 -- Midway On Life's Journey / Dante, Petrarch, Holderlin 18 -- Rejuvenation In Rome-through Rome / Goethe 26 -- The Physician's Art Of Prolonging Life / Hufeland 30 -- A Long Life With Faust / Goethe 33 -- New Art And Another Life / Vittorio Alfieri, Schiller 39 -- Magic And Style In Life-time / Balzac 43 -- Every Day Is A Sonnet / Oscar Wilde 50 -- Untimely Death Or Venerable Old Age / Chatterton, Keats, Benn, Thomas Mann 53 -- Revocable And Irrevocable Time / Ingeborg Bachmann 58 -- 3 Limited Time In This World And In The Next 64 -- Yet A Little While / Jesus, St. Paul 64 -- In Purgatory, Time Is Precious / Dante 69 -- More Time For A New World / Benjamin Franklin 74 -- A Purgatory In This World / Max Weber 79 -- Revolutionary Historical Times, In Rapid Fire / Heine, Marx 81 -- 4 Short And Shortest Times 89 -- Two Gods Of Time: Chronos And Kairos / Mythology, Classics 89 -- Stars And Hours / Schiller, Wallenstein, Stefan Zweig 93 -- Between Austerlitz And Waterloo / Emile Zola 97 -- 5 The Economy Of Limited Time 101 -- Three-day Friendship: Hospitality / Homer, Knigge 101 -- Classicism As Economy Of Time / From Plutarch To Andre Gide 105 -- Living Faster, Talking Less / Jean Paul, Madame De Stael 110 -- 6 The Drama Of Time In Short Supply 114 -- Epic Is Long, Drama Is Short / Aristotle 114 -- How Long Is Twenty-four Hours? / Corneille 116 -- Time Out Of Joint / Shakespeare, Hamlet 118 -- Saladin Learns To Take His Time / Lessing, Nathan The Wise 123 -- Time And The Oeuvre / Proust 126 -- 7 Finitude, Infinity 130 -- Curiosity-thirst For Knowledge-science / From Aristotle To Leibniz 130 -- A Nothingness Of Time In Exchange For Eternity / Pascal, Emily Dickinson 134 -- Too Little Time, Too Much World / Blumenberg 137 -- Anthropological Experiences Of Shortage / Odo Marquard 141 -- 8 Living With Deadlines 144 -- Clocks, Calendars, Appointment Calendars / Clockmakers, Calendarmakers 144 -- Deadlines In Everyday Life / Tutti, Con Moto 149 -- Deadlines In Law, With A Brief Glance At Abortion Limits / Civil Law, Criminal Law, Labor Law 153 -- ... But For The Present, Not Yet / Heidegger, Marquard 158 -- 9 Short Stories About Short Deadlines 164 -- Saved From Death At The Last Minute / Shakespeare, Thousand And One Nights, Merchant Of Venice 164 -- A Ballad About Friendship And Deadlines / Schiller, Die Burgschaft 168 -- A Devil's Pact With Deadlines / Chamisso 171 -- The Traps And Labors Of Deadlines / Flaubert, Maupassant 173 -- Deadlines Of Honor, Prussian Style / Theodor Fontane 176 -- Deadlines For Honor In Imperial Austria / Arthur Schnitzler 178 -- A Short Time To Be Humane / Garcia Marquez, Chronicle Of A Death Foretold 181 -- Fifteen Minutes' Delay For Death / Blaise Cendrars 185 -- Everyman's Last Reprieve / Hugo Von Hofmannsthal 188 -- A Short Epilogue In The Emergency Room / Tabucchi 191 -- A Race Around The World / Jules Verne, Around The World In Eighty Days 193 -- Short Time, Comic Style / Camoletti, Boeing-boeing 195 -- A Twenty-minute Deadline: Lola Runs / Tom Tywker, Lola Rennt 197 -- 10 Epilogue On The Sense Of Time 200. Harald Weinrich ; Translated By Steven Rendall. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [211]-231) And Index. Life is short. This indisputable fact of existence has driven human ingenuity since antiquity, whether through efforts to lengthen our lives with medicine or shorten the amount of time we spend on work using technology. Alongside this struggle to manage the pressure of life's ultimate deadline, human perception of the passage and effects of time has also changed. In "On Borrowed Time", Harald Weinrich examines an extraordinary range of materials - from Hippocrates to Run Lola Run - to put forth a new conception of time and its limits that, unlike older models, is firmly grounded in human experience. Weinrich's analysis of the roots of the word time connects it to the temples of the skull, demonstrating that humans first experienced time in the beating of their pulses. Tracing this corporeal perception of time across literary, religious, and philosophical works, Weinrich concludes that time functions as a kind of sixth sense - the crucial sense that enables the other five. Written with Weinrich's customary narrative elegance, "On Borrowed Time" is an absorbing - and, fittingly, succinct - meditation on life's inexorable brevity