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Full Idea
The problem of the relational view of space is especially acute in the context of physical theories that take the notion of a field seriously, e.g. classical electromagnetic theory.
Gist of Idea
Relational space is problematic if you take the idea of a field seriously
Source
Hartry Field (Science without Numbers [1980], 4)
Book Ref
Field,Hartry: 'Science without Number' [Blackwell 1980], p.35
A Reaction
In the Leibniz-Clarke debate I sided with the Newtonian Clarke (defending absolute space), and it looks like modern science agrees with me. Nothing exists purely as relations.
| 1511 | If everything is in a place, what is the place in? Place doesn't exist [Zeno of Elea, by Simplicius] |
| 5098 | Place is not shape, or matter, or extension between limits; it is the limits of a body [Aristotle] |
| 15980 | We can locate the parts of the universe, but not the whole thing [Locke] |
| 12952 | Space is an order among actual and possible things [Leibniz] |
| 18219 | Relational space is problematic if you take the idea of a field seriously [Field,H] |
| 22928 | For relationists moving an object beyond the edge of space creates new space [Le Poidevin] |
| 4228 | If space is entirely relational, what makes a boundary, or a place unoccupied by physical objects? [Lowe] |
| 21190 | 'Space' in physics just means location [Hesketh] |