The “Tree of Possibilities” by Christophe Bouton: Freedom as a Condition for the Plurality of Modalities of a Person's Temporal Existence

The problem of time is the leading topic of contemporary discussions between representatives of different branches of science and philosophy. Christophe Bouton designs a practical approach to the study of the nature of time and aspires to overcome the opposition of objective time to subjective time in the general context of natural science and humanities research. He considers time not only as a person's experience, but also as the basis of their real action in the world, which means that time becomes a condition for the realization of the possibilities that a person opens up in reality. Bouton assigns the concept of the “tree of possibilities”, which expresses the relationship between time and human freedom in people's temporal existence, a central place in the temporal problematic. Revealing the meaning of this concept, he analyzes the connection of the concepts “man”, “freedom”, “time”, “temporality”, “possibility”, “future”. A person is constricted by the limits of time in their existence, and therefore it is pointless for them to hope for freedom in eternity. But only by giving up illusions about freedom, a person can really become free. Freedom is manifested in a person's ability to act for the sake of realizing the possibilities this person created. Moving from experiencing possibilities to realizing them, a person can repeatedly modify their temporality. It leads to the destruction of the habitual way of being for a person and their idea of a predetermined future. The future becomes unforeseeable but the true meaning of the temporalization of freedom can only be understood in it. Time does not create or restrict human freedom, but freedom generates its own form of temporality characterized by a variety of possibilities embodied in reality and clearing up the future. Bouton analyzes the philosophical concepts of time and identifies different models of the tree of possibilities, which reflect the character, way of thinking, and actions of a person. Different modalities of temporal existence intersect in the interaction of people. When people share their experiences of designing, realizing possibilities or giving them up, they expand or restrict others' trees of possibilities. Bouton's practical approach sets us not only for an active search for and realization of our own possibilities but also for expansion of possibilities for other people. This is the new image of humanism of the contemporary epoch.

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