Space and its Relationship to God

Janiak, Andrew; Thomas, Emily

doi:10.1017/9781108333108.025

Space and its Relationship to God

Janiak, Andrew; Thomas, Emily

Authors

Andrew Janiak

Professor Emily Thomas emily.e.thomas@durham.ac.uk
Professor

Contributors

David Miller
Editor

Dana Jalobeanu
Editor

Abstract

During the Scientific Revolution, philosophers wondered how best to understand space. Many debates revolved around the account advanced in Descartes’s Principles of Philosophy (1644), and this chapter treats it as a focal point. Descartes argued for a return to the Aristotelian view that there is no difference in reality between space and matter, entailing that empty space—space empty of matter—is impossible. Over the next century, all kinds of philosophers attacked this position, and this chapter takes their rejections of Cartesian space as a starting point for exploring alternative views. A varied selection of philosophers who reject Cartesian space are discussed, in chronological order: Henry More, Samuel Clarke, Isaac Newton, Catharine Cockburn, and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. The sheer breadth of alternative theories of space they advance demonstrates the metaphysical richness of this era. Nonetheless, there is a deep agreement among their alternatives: all the accounts agree on the features of space. This base agreement set the scene for Kant’s theory of space, advanced after the Scientific Revolution ended.

Citation

Janiak, A., & Thomas, E. (2022). Space and its Relationship to God. In D. Miller, & D. Jalobeanu (Eds.), The Cambridge History of Philosophy of the Scientific Revolution (424-438). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108333108.025

Acceptance Date	Feb 26, 2020
Online Publication Date	Jan 14, 2022
Publication Date	2022
Deposit Date	Feb 27, 2020
Publicly Available Date	Feb 28, 2020
Publisher	Cambridge University Press
Pages	424-438
Book Title	The Cambridge History of Philosophy of the Scientific Revolution
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108333108.025

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Copyright Statement
This material has been published in Janiak, Andrew & Thomas, Emily (2022). Space and its Relationship to God. In Cambridge History of the Scientific Revolution. Miller, David & Jalobeanu, Dana Cambridge Cambridge University Press. 424-438. This version is free to view and download for personal use only. Not for re-distribution, re-sale or use in derivative works.