Book Description

Space, Time and Einstein by J. B. KennedyThis book is a threefold invitation to the philosophy of space andtime. It introduces - gently and simply - the new, revolutionary ideasof Einstein. It introduces the concepts and arguments of philosophers,both ancient and modern, which have proved of lasting value. Finally,it introduces the most recent discoveries and the debates raging now,in philosophy and physics, and points out how future developmentsmay unfold.The text does aim to teach one skill. Careful thinking is at the coreof our conception of philosophy. Now that many nations havereorganized themselves as democracies, which depend so much onreasoned debate and persuasion, careful thinking has become afoundation of our social and political lives as well. But clear thinkingis an art: it requires patience, practice and cultivation. This text doesnot teach or use formal logic, but it pays great attention to the careful analysis and interpretation of ideas. It slows down to dissect moment-ous claims and seeks out the hidden assumptions underlying the greatarguments of the past. It aims throughout to show how the analysis ofarguments deepens our appreciation of philosophy, and points theway towards future progress.This is a conservative text in the sense that it covers the standardtopics, outlines mainstream debates and introduces the views of someleading contemporary philosophers. Unusually, from the outset, itemphasizes the controversy between Einstein and Lorentz over theinterpretation of relativity (following essays by J. S. Bell and the moremathematical text by D. Bohm), which is now again a hot topic ofdebate. For accessibility, I have edited the quotations to conform to auniform terminology, ruthlessly preferred concrete over technicalterms (e.g. "rulers and clocks" rather than "reference frames") andpostponed all spacetime diagrams to an appendix. In general, I havefavoured bold, plausible claims and used the guide for further readingin Appendix E to point toward more advanced and nuanced litera-ture. This approach has worked well in courses I have taught atStanford University and the University of Notre Dame in the US andthe University of Manchester in the UK. There was no room forchapters on debates over space and time in the feminist philosophy ofscience and in art history, but some reference.