Abstract
Temporal space, which exists on a time/space axis, is most commonly considered to be diachronic, or sequential and linear. Temporal-spatial relations fall within the diachronic mode. Synchronic temporality describes a time/space axis that functions dialectically, or, perhaps even more aptly, as a spiral. Diachronic temporality, which often is relied upon to describe movement from past to present in reference to human developmental stages and to psychoanalytic process, describes subject-object relations, and represents the objectification of experience. The distance that characterizes diachronic temporal modes is greatly diminished in synchronic modes; synchronicity represents intimacy, attunement, and movement toward shared subjectivity. While the concept of synchronicity can provide an approximate explanation for temporal experience in the subject-relational realm, it is fundamentally limited by its inherent asymmetries. In positing dialectic between synchronic and diachronic spatial-temporal perspectives, Thomas Ogden attempts to retain the idea of primary or objective reality.