display all the ideas for this combination of texts
4 ideas
18223 | In theories of fields, space-time points or regions are causal agents [Field,H] |
Full Idea: According to theories that take the notion of a field seriously, space-time points or regions are fully-fledge causal agents. | |
From: Hartry Field (Science without Numbers [1980], n 23) |
18220 | Both philosophy and physics now make substantivalism more attractive [Field,H] |
Full Idea: In general, it seems to me that recent developments in both philosophy and physics have made substantivalism a much more attractive position than it once was. | |
From: Hartry Field (Science without Numbers [1980], 4) | |
A reaction: I'm intrigued as to what philosophical developments are involved in this. The arrival of fields is the development in physics. |
18219 | Relational space is problematic if you take the idea of a field seriously [Field,H] |
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. | |
From: Hartry Field (Science without Numbers [1980], 4) | |
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. |
4535 | A 'species' is a stable phase of evolution, implying the false notion that evolution has a goal [Nietzsche] |
Full Idea: When a 'species' appears, it is a phase in which evolution is not visible, so an equilibrium seems to have been attained, making possible the false notion that a goal has been attained, and that evolution has a goal. | |
From: Friedrich Nietzsche (The Will to Power (notebooks) [1888], §521) | |
A reaction: A penetrating explanation of a crucial that won't go away, and that still grips people's minds. Even if we all want a particular goal, evolution will ignore our dreams and go another way. |