The existence of space and time / Ian Hinckfuss.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hinckfuss, Ian, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Space and time.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xii, 153 pages) : illustrations

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Clarendon, 1975.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This book is intended as an introduction to the philosophical problems of space and time, suitable for any reader who has an interest in the nature of the universe and who has a secondary-school knowledge of physics and mathematics. In particular, it is hoped that the book may find a use in philosophy departments and physics departments within universities and other tertiary institutions.

Contents:

Space

relational or absolute? What is space? ; Relational theories of space ; Absolute theories of space ; What is a reduction? ; The properties of space. The conductivity of space ; The permittivity of empty space ; The magnetic permeability of empty space ; The speed of electromagnetic radiation in empty space ; Kinematic properties of space ; Dynamic properties of space

Space and geometry. Geometric properties of space ; Topological properties of space ; The dimensionality of space ; Space as physically possible types of events ; Points and pointing systems ; Amounts of space ; The nocturnal expansion problem

Time, space, and space-time. Similarities and dissimilarities between time and space ; Measurement of time, and the frozen universe problem ; Questions of temporal topology ; More differences between time and space

Existence and the present. Words and concepts ; The debate on tense elimination ; Events, tense, and existence ; Moore's problem and The Present ; Simultaneity, the Theory of the Present, and Maxwell's theory of electromagnetic radiation ; Einstein's operational definition of simultaneity ; Experimental confirmation of Maxwell's theory of electromagnetic radiation

Temporal asymmetry. Causes and effects ; Knowledge and decision ; Does the Second Law of Thermodynamics display a temporal asymmetry? ; Local and accidental asymmetrics within time.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Print version