Philosophical Problems of Space and Time: Second, enlarged edition

by Adolf Grünbaum

I. Philosophical Problems of the Metric of Space and Time.- 1. Spatial and Temporal Congruence in A Critical Comparison of the Conceptions of Newton, Riemann, Poincaré, Eddington, Bridgman, Russell, and Whitehead.- A. Newton.- B. Riemann.- C. Poincaré.- D. Eddington.- E. Bridgman.- F. Russell.- G. Whitehead.- 2. The Significance of Alternative Time Metrizations in Newtonian Mechanics and in the General Theory of Relativity.- A. Newtonian Mechanics.- B. The General Theory of Relativity.- 3. Critique of Reichenbach's and Carnap's Philosophy of Geometry.- A. The Status of "Universal Forces".- B. The "Relativity of Geometry".- 4. Critique of Einstein's Philosophy of Geometry.- A. An Appraisal of Duhem's Account of the Falsifiability of Isolated Empirical Hypotheses in Its Bearing on Einstein's Conception of the Interdependence of Geometry and Physics.- I. The Trivial Validity of the D-Thesis.- II. The Untenability of the Non-Trivial D-Thesis.- B. The Interdependence of Geometry and Physics in Poincare's Conventionalism.- C. Critical Evaluation of Einstein's Conception of the Interdependence of Geometry and Physical Geometry as a Counter-Example to the Non-Trivial D-Thesis.- 5. Empiricism and the Geometry of Visual Space.- 6. The Resolution of Zeno's Metrical Paradox of Extension for the Mathematical Continua of Space and Time.- II. Philosophical Problems of the Topology of Time and Space.- 7. The Causal Theory of Time.- A. Closed Time.- B. Open Time.- 8. The Anisotropy of Time.- A. Is There a Thermodynamic Basis for the Anisotropy of Time?.- I. The Entropy Law of Classical Thermodynamics.- II. The Statistical Analogue of the Entropy Law.- B. Are There Non-Thermodynamic Foundations for the Anisotropy of Time?.- 9. The Asymmetry of Retrodictability and Predictability, the Compossibility of Explanation of the Past and Prediction of the Future, and Mechanism vs. Teleology.- A. The Conditions of Retrodictability and Non-Predictability.- B. The Physical Basis for the Anisotropy of Psychological Time.- C. The Bearing of Retrodictability and Non-Predict-ability on the Compossibility of Explainability and Predictability.- I. Evolutionary Theory.- II. The Paresis Case.- III. The Barometer Case.- D. The Controversy Between Mechanism and Teleology.- 10. Is There a "Flow" of Time or Temporal "Becoming"?.- 11. Empiricism and the Three-Dimensionality of Space.- III. Philosophical Issues in the Theory of Relativity.- 12. Philosophical Foundations of the Special Theory of Relativity, and Their Bearing on Its History.- A. Introduction.- B. Einstein's Conception of Simultaneity, Its Prevalent Misrepresentations, and Its History.- C. History of Einstein's Enunciation of the Limiting Character of the Velocity of Light in vacuo.- D. The Principle of the Constancy of the Speed of Light, and the Falsity of the Aether-Theoretic Lorentz-Fitzgerald Contraction Hypothesis.- E. The Experimental Confirmation of the Kinematics of the STR.- F. The Philosophical Issue Between Einstein and His Aether-Theoretic Precursors, and Its Bearing on E. T. Whittaker's History of the STR.- 13. Philosophical Appraisal of E. A. Milne's Alternative to Einstein's STR.- 14. Has the General Theory of Relativity Repudiated Absolute Space?.- 15. Philosophical Critique of Whitehead's Theory of Relativity.- Bibliography for the First Edition.- IV. Supplementary Studies 1964-1973.- 1. Supplement to Part I.- 16. Space, Time and Falsifiability (First Installment).- Abstract.- Criteria for Intrinsicness vs. Extrinsicness of Metrics and of Relations on Contents.- 1. Singly and Multiply Extended Manifolds.- 2. Intrinsicness vs. Extrinsicness of Metrics, Metrical Equalities, and Congruences.- 3. What are the Logical Connections, if any, between Alternative Metrizability, Intrinsic Metric Amorphousness, and the Convention-ladenness of Metrical Comparisons?.- 4. Intrinsicness and Extrinsicness of a Relation on a Manifold.- 17. Can We Ascertain the F

Genres: Philosophy

916 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 1973

Reviews

[Anthony Faber · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very dense book. I may have missed the point, but he seems to be fussing about stuff that seems either obvious, trivial or undecidable to me. The physics part was okay, though.

[Albert-Jan Jorna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Comprehensive. Mostly read the last chapters that I needed for my studies, but it is clear that this is a very informative book and the result of some thorough investigation and hard labour by the author. Will definitely read the first half of the book at a later time to be fully up to date on the relativistic physics as I feel, this book delivers on the details more than with most other sources even though it is old!