Synthesis philosophica, Vol. 21 No. 2, 2006.
Original scientific paper
What is Left of Classical Philosophical Understanding of Space?
Mirko Jakšić
Abstract
This paper deals with the traditional philosophical understanding of space in comparison with the contemporary physical understanding of space, which is under the influence of Einstein’s theory of relativity. As the first variant of the traditional philosophical understanding of space, an understanding of space as the property of existing beings (either as a coordinate associated to material bodies or as the all embracing superiority that comprehend all material bodies) is stated. This tradition takes us from ancient Greek philosophy (i.e. Leucippus, Democritus) to Descartes and Newton’s understanding of absolute space. As the second variant of the traditional philosophical understanding of space, an understanding of space as the aprioristic intuition of mind, which enables us to perceive beings existing in absolute space, is stated. This tradition leads from Kant’s philosophy to contemporary theories of the inborn aprioristic faculty of mind. The untenableness of these variants, which
include the concept of absolute space, is shown with the help of proofs that confirm Einstein’s theory of relativity, and with the help of non-Euclidean’s geometries. With the help of examples from Stephen Hawking and Roger Penrose’s discussion concerning the nature of
space and time, it is shown that the contemporary physical understanding of space remains inside the frames of philosophical understanding of three-dimensional space. With the help of the ontological foundation of the rules of deductive logic, what is shown is the measure of actuality of the aprioristic variant of philosophical understanding of space.
Keywords
traditional philosophical understanding of space; contemporary physical understanding of space; Einstein’s theory of relativity; non-Euclidean geometries; deductive logic
Hrčak ID:
12419
URI
Publication date:
29.12.2006.
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