Immediacy is a
philosophical
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
concept related to time and temporal perspectives, both
visual
The visual system comprises the sensory organ (the eye) and parts of the central nervous system (the retina containing photoreceptor cells, the optic nerve, the optic tract and the visual cortex) which gives organisms the sense of sight ...
, and
cognitive
Cognition refers to "the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses". It encompasses all aspects of intellectual functions and processes such as: perception, attention, thought ...
. Considerations of immediacy reflect on how we experience the world and what
reality
Reality is the sum or aggregate of all that is real or existent within a system, as opposed to that which is only imaginary. The term is also used to refer to the ontological status of things, indicating their existence. In physical terms, re ...
is. It implies a direct experience of an event or object bereft of any intervening medium. An example would be looking at a painting, losing awareness of the medium, and seeing the depiction as real. The medium is an important concept, and somewhat paradoxical, as it is both necessary and yet forgotten. Plato deals with a similar concept in the purity of experience. He tells us that speech is more immediate than writing, because the words emerge more directly from the speaker's mind.
Immediacy also possesses characteristics of both of the
homophonic heterographs 'immanent' and 'imminent', and what
entails to both within ontology.
Immediacy also relates to the philosophy of
phenomenology
Phenomenology may refer to:
Art
* Phenomenology (architecture), based on the experience of building materials and their sensory properties
Philosophy
* Phenomenology (philosophy), a branch of philosophy which studies subjective experiences and a ...
, as they are schools of thought which both concern subjective perceptions of objects and time.
Philosophy of time
Concepts in metaphysics
Ontology
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