Philosophy of Space and Time: And the Inner Constitution of Nature
Language: English
Pages: 440
ISBN: 1138871095
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
First published in 2002. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
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term modelmotivated for such a view. To avoid further confusion for quantum 9 10 PHILOSOPHY OF SP ACE AND TIME theorists, I have then, in this context, called the phenomenological approach analytic. Although Poincare and Einstein, in their discovery of the special theory of relativity, can be said to have adopted the phenomenological method of face-to-face analysis, I believe it is safe to say that a thoroughgoing phenomenological approach to the subject of space, time and natural law, in all
'self-evident' types the levels could be suitably described as the outward 'facts' and their 'analysis'. If the analysis is directly and decisively confirmed the theory is 'settled'. Otherwise the analysis has to be 'guessed objectively', and the theory then comes in the speculative category. We thus distinguish between 'guesses' of two kinds: (1) guesses at discoverable 'inward facts', i.e. at the analysis, and (2) guesses worked out for the purpose of 'fitting', without any claim that the
'behind the scenes'. 2 As already quoted from Weyl: 'Nobody who really goes into the matter will deny that the world of perceptions determines the theoretical system in a virtually unambiguous manner, although no logical way leads to the principles of the theory.' 3 Thus at any stage of our knowledge, if several possible steps are considered, the step which will lead us most sure-footed to 'expansion' and 'inevitability' can usually be judged quite confidently. The 'Conventional Index of
which shapes and durations are absolute. z See Ch. 20, esp. pp. 332 ff. 24 PHILOSOPHY OF SP ACE AND TIME of formulating the gravitational field, began by providing some remarkable astronomical confirmations, considered at the time to be within the Iimits of experimental accuracy. These confirmations had inevitably to be made by means of an interpretation of the formalism in terms of the Euclidean space and physical time of the laboratory. Once again the 'mechanism' has receded into the
depending on the accuracy required and the way in which the geodesics are constructed). In geometries of space-time, where the introduction of the time variable would Iead to results different from those obtainable with a purely space-geometry, I propose to take the manipulative methods under consideration as quite impracticable, if not actually meaningless. We cannot lay links of a chain along the path of a projectile so that each link is moving with the velocity of the projectile and also the
