Philosophical Problems of Space and Time

It is ten years since Adolf Griinbaum published the first edition of this book. It was promptly recognized to be one of the few major works in the philosophy of the natural sciences of this generation. In part, this is so because Griinbaum has chosen a problem basic both to philosophy and to the natural sciences - the nature of space and time; and in part, this is so because he so admirably exemplifies that Aristotelian devotion to the intimate and mutual dependence of actual science and philosophical understanding. More than this, however, the quality of his work derives from his achievement in combining detail with scope. The problems of space and time have been among the most difficult in contemporary and classical thought, and Griinbaum has been responsible to the full depth and complexity of these difficulties. This revised and enlarged second edition is a work in progress, in the tradition of reflective analysis of modern science of such figures as Ehrenfest and Reichenbach. In publishing this work among the Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science, we hope to contribute to and encourage that broad tradition of natural philosophy which is marked by the close collaboration of philoso­ phers and scientists. To this end, we have published the proceedings of our Colloquia, of meetings and conferences here and abroad, as well as the works of single authors.

Inhalt

I. Philosophical Problems of the Metric of Space and Time.- 1. Spatial and Temporal Congruence in Physics: 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 Physics: 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 Manifolds: 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 Falsity of a Scientific Hypothesis?.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Purported Disproofs of Hypotheses in Biology and Astronomy.- 3. Is it NEVER Possible to Falsify a Hypothesis Irrevocably?.- 18. Can an Infinitude of Operations Be Performed in a Finite Time?.- 2. Supplement to Part II.- 19. Is the Coarse-Grained Entropy of Classical Statistical Mechanics an Anthropomorphism?.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Entropy Change and Arbitrariness of the Partitioning of Phase Space.- 3. What is the Physical Significance of the Triple Role of the Entropy for the Entropy Statistics in the Class U?.- 4. Do the Roles of Human Decision and Ignorance Impugn the Physical Significance of the Entropy Statistics for the Class U?.- 3. Supplement to Part III.- 20. Simultaneity by Slow Clock Transport in the Special Theory of Relativity.- (co-authored with Wesley C. Salmon).- 1. Summary.- 2. Examination of Ellis and Bowman's Account of Nonstandard Signal Synchronizations.- 3. The Philosophical Status of Simultaneity by Slow Clock Transport in the Special Theory of Relativity.- 21. The Bearing of Philosophy on the History of the Special Theory of Relativity.- 1. History and Pedagogy of the Light Principle.- 2. Contraction and Time-Dilation Hypotheses.- 3. Summary.- Chppter 22. General Relativity, Geometrodynamics and Ontology.- 1. Introduction.- 2. The Philosophical Status of the Metric of Space-Time in the General Theory of Relativity.- 3. The Ontology of Empty Curved Metric Space in the Geometrodynamics of Clifford and Wheeler.- 4. The Time-Orientability of Space-Time and the 'Arrow' of Time.- Index of Personal Names - Compiled by Mr. Theodore C. Falk.- Index of Subjects - Compiled by Mr. Theodore C. Falk.