Editing Eternity (section)

== Philosophy ==
{{see also|Eternalism (philosophy of time)|Philosophy of space and time}}

[[Classical philosophy]] defines eternity as what exists outside time, as in describing timeless [[supernatural]] beings and forces, distinguished from sempiternity which corresponds to infinite time, as described in [[requiem]] prayers for the dead.{{which|date=March 2021}} Some thinkers, such as [[Aristotle]], suggest the [[Eternity of the world|eternity of the natural cosmos]] in regard to both past and future eternal duration. [[Boethius]] defined eternity as "simultaneously full and perfect possession of interminable life".{{sfnp|Boedder|1902|loc=book 2, ch. 2, "[https://maritain.nd.edu/jmc/etext/nath34.htm The Eternity of God]"}}{{efn|{{harvp|Boethius|523|loc=book 5, prose §. 6}}, quote: "{{lang|la|Aeternitas igitur est interminabilis vitae tota simul et perfecta possessio.}}"}} [[Thomas Aquinas]] believed that God's eternity does not cease, as it is without either a beginning or an end; the concept of eternity is of [[divine simplicity]], thus incapable of being defined or fully understood by humankind.{{sfnp|Helm|2010|loc=§. 6, "[https://stanford.library.sydney.edu.au/archives/sum2010/entries/eternity/#:~:text=Medieval%20thinkers,-It%20is%20in&text=For%20Aquinas%20God%27s%20eternity%20is,fully%20grasped%20by%20a%20creature. Medieval thinkers]"}}

[[Thomas Hobbes]] (1588–1679) and many others in the [[Age of Enlightenment]] drew on the classical distinction to put forward metaphysical hypotheses such as "eternity is a permanent now".{{sfnp|Hobbes|1662|p=50}}

=== Contemporary philosophy and physics ===
Today cosmologists, philosophers, and others look towards analyses of the concept from across cultures and history. They debate, among other things, whether an absolute concept of eternity has real application for fundamental [[laws of physics]]; compare the issue of [[entropy as an arrow of time]].