This chapter begins with a discusion of Aristotle’s two reasons for saying that time cannot be a kind of change: time is universal in a way that change is not, and changes are fast or slow, whereas time is not. It then examines Aristotle’s defence of the claim that time should be defined partly in terms of change. It argues that Aristotle is presupposing the truth of certain assumptions made in ordinary life about the relation between time and change. It is assumed that there is time when and only when there is change. Aristotle thinks there is good prima facie reason for supposing that common assumptions of this kind are true, and hence, for thinking that time is something essentially related to change.
Keywords: change, common assumptions