Browse > Article
http://dx.doi.org/10.14477/jhm.2017.30.2.087

Substantivalism and Relationism in the 4 Dimensional Interpretation of Newtonian Space-Time  

Yang, Kyoung-Eun (Korea National Univ. of Edu.)
Publication Information
Journal for History of Mathematics / v.30, no.2, 2017 , pp. 87-100 More about this Journal
Abstract
The ontological status of Newtonian space-time has been debated under the name of substantivalism-relationism controversy. The debates between the two parties are concerned with the nature of existence of space-time. Substantivalism maintains that the points of space-time have existence analogous to material substance. Relationism claims that space-time should be understood as the framework of possible spatio-temporal relations between bodies. Newtonian space is considered as a three dimensional entity in accordance with our geometric common sense. Yet given that the concept of motion is defined as the change of position throughout time, it is possible to interpret space-time as a 4 dimensional entity. In this essay, substantivalist-relationist debate is considered within the context of non-relativistic 4 dimensional space-time theory. This essay attempts to clarify the dispute over the ontology of space-time by elucidating the relationship between the ontology of space-time, motion, and space-time symmetry.
Keywords
Time; Space; Space-Time; Substantivalism; Relationism;
Citations & Related Records
Times Cited By KSCI : 1  (Citation Analysis)
연도 인용수 순위
1 H. G. ALEXANDER, The Leibniz-Clark Correspondence, Manchester University Press, 1959.
2 J. BARBOUR, Relational Concepts of Space and Time, British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 33 (1982), 251-274.   DOI
3 J. BARBOUR & B. BERTOTTI, Mach's Principle and the Structure of Dynamical Theories, Procedings of the Royal Society of London Series A 382 (1982), 296-306.
4 G. BELOT, Whatever is Never And Nowhere is Not: Space, Time, And Ontology in Classical and, Quantum Gravity, Unpublished Ph. D. thesis, University of Pittsburgh, 1996.
5 H. S. M. COXETER, Regular Polytopes, 3rd eds. Dover, 1973.
6 R. DISALLE, Newton, Einstein, and the Empirical Foundations of Spacetime Geometry, International Studies in Philosophy of Science 6 (1992), 181-189.   DOI
7 J. EARMAN, World Enough and Space-Time, MIT Press, 1989.
8 A. EINSTEIN, On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies, in The Principle of Relativity, Dover Books, 1905, 35-65.
9 A. EINSTEIN, Philosopher-Scientist, Open Court, 1949.
10 H. FIELD, Can We Dispense with Space-Time, PSA 1984(2) (1984), 33-90.
11 H. FIELD, Science Without Numbers, Princeton University Press, 1980.
12 M. FRIEDMAN, Foundation of Space-Time Theories, Princeton University Press,1983.
13 A. R. HALL, M. B. HALL, Unpublished Scientific Papers of Isaac Newton, Cambridge University Press, 1962.
14 T. MAUDLIN, Buckets of Water and Waves of Space: Why Space-time Probably is a Substance, Philosophy of Science 60 (1993), 183-203.   DOI
15 J. E. MCGUIRE, Space, Infinity, and Indivisibility: Newton on the Creation of Matter, in Contemporary Newtionian Research, D. Reidel, 1982, 145-190.
16 H. MINKOWSKI, Raum und Zeit, Physikalische Zeitschrift 10 (1909), 104-111.
17 I. NEWTON, Mathematical Principle of Natural Philosophy, University of California Press, 1729/1999.
18 L. SKLAR, Space, Time, and Spacetime, University of California Press, 1974.
19 P. TELLER, Substance, Relations, and Argument about the Nature of Space-Time, The Philosophical Review C(3) (1991), 363-397.
20 R. TORRETTI, Relativity and Geometry, Pergamon Press, 1983.
21 B. C. van FRAASSEN, Scientific Image, Oxford University Press, 1980.
22 K. E. YANG, The Controversy on the Conceptual Foundation of Space-Time Geometry, Journal for History of Mathematics 22(3) (2009), 273-292.