Space as voidObjections against void conceptionHistorical objectionsFlatlandPleasantville and HarshlandThe basic oppositionSubstantivalismRelationismConcepts of distance and motionSpace as voidObjections against void conceptionThe basic oppositionSpace: Conceptions of VoidChristian Wüthrichhttp://philosophy.ucsd.edu/faculty/wuthrich/146 Philosophy of PhysicsClass 9, 25 October 2007Christian Wüthrich Class 9Space as voidObjections against void conceptionThe basic oppositionSubstantivalism vs. RelationalismPosition (Substantivalism)Space and time exist as independent substances, i.e. they areexisting particulars in their own right, over and above thematerial content of the universe. Space and time arecontinuous and pervasive media that extend ever ywhere andeverywhen.Position (Relationism)Space and time do not exist as independent substances, thereis only the material content of the universe. Space and time aremerely defined through spatiotemporal relations among thematerial objects in the universe.Christian Wüthrich Class 9Space as voidObjections against void conceptionThe basic oppositionAn intuitive model of space: the void conception“Space itself is nothing at all; it has no intrinsic features of its own, it ismere absence. Objects can be separated by different spatialdistances... and we know this because of the different times it takesto travel or transmit signals between them; we cannot directlymeasure magnitudes of space, since space is itself featureless void.”(Dainton, 132)Consequences:1space must be infinite2there’s only one space3question “What structure does space have?” is emptyChristian Wüthrich Class 9Space as voidObjections against void conceptionThe basic oppositionHistorical objectionsFlatlandPleasantville and HarshlandThe plenum universeThe Christian Aristotelian cosmos, engraving from Peter Apian’s Cosmographia, 1524“Naturam a vacuoabhorrere” (There can beno vacuum in Nature), ideaoriginating in AristotleAristotle: sub- andsupralunar spheres, spacedoes not continue beyondoutermost sphereDescartes: interplanetaryspace filled with subtle fluidChristian Wüthrich Class 9Space as voidObjections against void conceptionThe basic oppositionHistorical objectionsFlatlandPleasantville and HarshlandSir Isaac Newton (1643-1727)English physicist,mathematician, astronomer,natural philosopher,theologian, and alchemisteducation at Trinity College,CambridgeLucasian Professor ofMathematics in 1669 atCambridgePrincipia Mathematica(published in 1687)synthesis of mechanicalresults by Galileo, Kepler, etcChristian Wüthrich Class 9Space as voidObjections against void conceptionThe basic oppositionHistorical objectionsFlatlandPleasantville and HarshlandNewton: infinite absolute space“Space is eternal in duration and immutable in nature...Although space may be empty of body, nevertheless it is itselfnot a void: and something is there, because spaces are there,although nothing more than that.” (De Gravitatione, as quotedby Dainton, 133)“Absolute space, in its own nature, without relation to anythingexternal, remains always similar and immovable.” (Principia, asquoted by Huggett, 118)Christian Wüthrich Class 9Space as voidObjections against void conceptionThe basic oppositionHistorical objectionsFlatlandPleasantville and HarshlandHistorical aside: Giordano Bruno (1548-1600)Italian philosopher, magician, theologian,cosmologist, and occultist“There is a single general space, a singlevast immensity which we may freely callVOID; in it are innumerable globes likethis one on which we live and grow. Thisspace we declare to be infinite, sinceneither reason, convenience, possibility,sense-perception nor nature assign to it alimit... It diffuseth throughout all,penetrateth all and it envelopeth, touchethand is closely attached to all, leavingnowhere any vacant space.” (On theInfinite Universe and Worlds, as quoted byDainton, 339)Christian Wüthrich Class 9Space as voidObjections against void conceptionThe basic oppositionHistorical objectionsFlatlandPleasantville and HarshlandTwo objections against void conceptions1Flatland2Pleasantville and Harshland Thought ExperimentChristian Wüthrich Class 9Space as voidObjections against void conceptionThe basic oppositionHistorical objectionsFlatlandPleasantville and Harshland(1) FlatlandWe might find ourselves in the very same predicament as theflatlanders!Christian Wüthrich Class 9Space as voidObjections against void conceptionThe basic oppositionHistorical objectionsFlatlandPleasantville and HarshlandQuestion: Could there be an additional spatial dimension,i.e. could there be a “hyper-up” and a “hyper-down”direction?probably not, as we don’t encounter object spontaneouslyappearing as if from or disappearing as if to nowhereat least we have a constraint of how objects can move inhyper-directionbut if space is simply nothing, it’s not at all clear why thereshould be such a restriction⇒ confinement to three dims doesn’t sit well with voidconception, unless there are independent reasons toassume that space is three-dimensionalChristian Wüthrich Class 9Space as voidObjections against void conceptionThe basic oppositionHistorical objectionsFlatlandPleasantville and Harshland(2) Pleasantville and HarshlandProblem: if space is mere absence, the very possibility of spatialconnection becomes problematicThought Experiment (Pleasantville and Harshland)Inhabitants of “Pleasantville” discover that eating certain root causesthem to vanish, only to reappear some time later. Repatriates alsobring back tales from another planet “Harshland”, which show highintersubjective agreement.Question: how can this be accounted for?E.g. Pleasantville and Harshland each exists within a separatespace⇒ possibility of multiple unconnected, distinct, separatespaces—pace the void conceptionour experience could be such as to warrant the postulation oftwo distinct spacesthis undermines the assumption that all things are necessarilyspatially relatedChristian Wüthrich Class 9Space as voidObjections against void conceptionThe basic oppositionHistorical objectionsFlatlandPleasantville and HarshlandFurthermore, void conception fails to deliver explanation ofdistinctive ways in which things are connected in space.If there is no such connection, i.e. if there is absolutelynothing bw spatially distant material objects as objects areseparated by “expanse of void”, they don’t stand in aspatial relation, they can’t collide or