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.- 2. The Significance of Alternative Time Metrizations in Newtonian Mechanics and in the General Theory of Relativity.- 3. Critique of Reichenbach's and Carnap's Philosophy of Geometry.- 4. Critique of Einstein's Philosophy of Geometry.- 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.- 8. 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.- 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.- 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 19641973.- 1. Supplement to Part I.- 16. Space, Time and Falsifiability (First Installment).- 17. Can We Ascertain the Falsity of a Scientific Hypothesis?.- 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 anAnthropomorphism?.- 3. Supplement to Part III.- 20. 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.- Chppter 22. General Relativity, Geometrodynamics and Ontology.- Index of Personal Names Compiled by Mr. Theodore C. Falk.- Index of Subjects Compiled by Mr. Theodore C. Falk.