specious present

The specious present is the time duration wherein one's perceptions are considered to be in the present. This term was coined by Robert Kelly (writing with the pseudonym "E. R. Clay") and the concept was further developed by Harvard professor of philosophy William James (see Andersen and Grush for the history of the term and development of the concept). James defined the specious present to be "the prototype of all conceived times... the short duration of which we are immediately and incessantly sensible".
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