Combining Texts

Ideas for 'The Social Contract (tr Cress)', 'A Survey of Metaphysics' and 'Empiricist View of Religion'

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3 ideas

27. Natural Reality / A. Classical Physics / 1. Mechanics / a. Explaining movement
If motion is change of distance between objects, it involves no intrinsic change in the objects [Lowe]
     Full Idea: If motion just is change of distance between two objects, it does not involve any kind of intrinsic change in the objects in question.
     From: E.J. Lowe (A Survey of Metaphysics [2002], p.242)
     A reaction: It sound respectably relativistic, but I doubt the definition. x is moving relative to y, then y attains x's velocity, so x ceases to move? Maybe.
27. Natural Reality / C. Space / 3. Points in Space
Surfaces, lines and points are not, strictly speaking, parts of space, but 'limits', which are abstract [Lowe]
     Full Idea: Surfaces, lines and points are not, strictly speaking, parts of space at all, but just 'limits' of certain kinds, and as such 'abstract' entities.
     From: E.J. Lowe (A Survey of Metaphysics [2002], p.254)
     A reaction: This is fairly crucial when dealing with Zeno's paradoxes. How many points in a line? How long to get through a point?
27. Natural Reality / C. Space / 5. Relational Space
If space is entirely relational, what makes a boundary, or a place unoccupied by physical objects? [Lowe]
     Full Idea: If space does not exist at all, but is only relations between objects, what could one possibly mean by saying that there is a place which is unoccupied by any material object? And what determines whether space is bounded?
     From: E.J. Lowe (A Survey of Metaphysics [2002], p.264)
     A reaction: Correct. People who assert that space is only relational have been misled by what we can know about space, not what it is.