Philosophy_of_space_and_time

context: Philosophy of space and time is the branch of philosophy concerned with the issues surrounding the ontology, epistemology, and character of space and time. While such ideas have been central to philosophy from its inception, the philosophy of space and time was both an inspiration for and a central aspect of early analytic philosophy. The subject focuses on a number of basic issues, including whether or not time and space exist independently of the mind, whether they exist independently of one another, what accounts for time's apparently unidirectional flow, whether times other than the present moment exist, and questions about the nature of identity (particularly the nature of identity over time).
qas: answers: Philosophy of space and time
question: Which philosophy branch is concerned with issues surrounding ontology?

answers: early analytic philosophy
question: The philosophy of space and time was inspired by what kind of philosophy?

answers: the mind
question: The  philosophy of space and time focuses on whether or not time and space exist independently of what?

answers: unidirectional
question: The  philosophy of space and time focuses what kind of flow within time? 

context: The earliest recorded Western philosophy of time was expounded by the ancient Egyptian thinker Ptahhotep (c. 2650–2600 BC), who said, "Do not lessen the time of following desire, for the wasting of time is an abomination to the spirit." The Vedas, the earliest texts on Indian philosophy and Hindu philosophy, dating back to the late 2nd millennium BC, describe ancient Hindu cosmology, in which the universe goes through repeated cycles of creation, destruction, and rebirth, with each cycle lasting 4,320,000 years. Ancient Greek philosophers, including Parmenides and Heraclitus, wrote essays on the nature of time.
qas: answers: Ptahhotep
question: Who expounded the earliest recorded Western philosophy of time?

answers: late 2nd millennium BC
question: When do the Vedas date back to?

answers: Indian philosophy and Hindu philosophy
question: Which philosophies are the Vedas oriented with?

answers: ancient Hindu cosmology
question: What do the Vedas describe?

answers: 4,320,000 years
question: How long is the cycle of rebirth discussed in the Vedas?

context: In Book 11 of St. Augustine's Confessions, he ruminates on the nature of time, asking, "What then is time? If no one asks me, I know: if I wish to explain it to one that asketh, I know not." He goes on to comment on the difficulty of thinking about time, pointing out the inaccuracy of common speech: "For but few things are there of which we speak properly; of most things we speak improperly, still the things intended are understood."  But Augustine presented the first philosophical argument for the reality of Creation (against Aristotle) in the context of his discussion of time, saying that knowledge of time depends on the knowledge of the movement of things, and therefore time cannot be where there are no creatures to measure its passing (Confessions Book XI ¶30; City of God Book XI ch.6).
qas: answers: St. Augustine
question: Which christian philosopher ruminated on time?

answers: the difficulty
question: What did St. Augustine comment on in Book 11, regarding thinking about time?

answers: Augustine
question: Who presented the first philosophical argument for the reality of Creation? 

answers: the knowledge of the movement of things
question: What did Augustine say that the knowledge of time depended on?

answers: where there are no creatures to measure its passing
question: Where did Augustine say time could not appear?

context: In the early 11th century, the Muslim physicist Ibn al-Haytham (Alhacen or Alhazen) discussed space perception and its epistemological implications in his Book of Optics (1021), he also rejected Aristotle's definition of topos (Physics IV) by way of geometric demonstrations and defined place as a mathematical spatial extension. His experimental proof of the intromission model of vision led to changes in the understanding of the visual perception of space, contrary to the previous emission theory of vision supported by Euclid and Ptolemy. In "tying the visual perception of space to prior bodily experience, Alhacen unequivocally rejected the intuitiveness of spatial perception and, therefore, the autonomy of vision. Without tangible notions of distance and size for correlation, sight can tell us next to nothing about such things."
qas: answers: al-Haytham
question: Which 11th century Muslim physicist discussed space perception and its epistemological implications? 

answers: Book of Optics
question: Which 11th century book discussed space perception and its epistemological implications?

answers: Aristotle's
question: Whose definition of topos did Alhazen reject?

answers: Without tangible notions of distance and size for correlation, sight can tell us next to nothing about such things
question: Alhazen's  experimental proof of the intromission model of vision led to the change of understanding of what?

answers: next to nothing
question: Alhazen stated that without tangible notions of distance and size for correlation, sight can tell us what about spatial perception?

context: In 1781, Immanuel Kant published the Critique of Pure Reason, one of the most influential works in the history of the philosophy of space and time. He describes time as an a priori notion that, together with other a priori notions such as space, allows us to comprehend sense experience. Kant denies that either space or time are substance, entities in themselves, or learned by experience; he holds, rather, that both are elements of a systematic framework we use to structure our experience. Spatial measurements are used to quantify how far apart objects are, and temporal measurements are used to quantitatively compare the interval between (or duration of) events. Although space and time are held to be transcendentally ideal in this sense, they are also empirically real—that is, not mere illusions.
qas: answers: 1781
question: When did Kant publish one of the most influential works in the history of the philosophy of space and time.

answers: Critique of Pure Reason
question: What was Kant's influential work on the history of the philosophy of space and time titled?

answers: a priori notion
question: What did Kant describe time as?

answers: space
question: What did Kant say was similar notion to time?

answers: sense experience
question: What did Kant say time and space allow one to do?

context: Arguing against the absolutist position, Leibniz offers a number of thought experiments with the purpose of showing that there is contradiction in assuming the existence of facts such as absolute location and velocity. These arguments trade heavily on two principles central to his philosophy: the principle of sufficient reason and the identity of indiscernibles. The principle of sufficient reason holds that for every fact, there is a reason that is sufficient to explain what and why it is the way it is and not otherwise. The identity of indiscernibles states that if there is no way of telling two entities apart, then they are one and the same thing.
qas: answers: the absolutist position
question: What did Leibniz argue against?

answers: the principle of sufficient reason and the identity of indiscernibles
question: Which principles did Leibniz's arguments trade heavily upon?

answers: fact
question: Leibnitz held that there is a reason that is sufficient to explain what and why it is the way it is and not otherwise for every what?

answers: identity of indiscernibles
question: What states that if there is no way of telling two entities apart, then they are one and the same thing?

context: The example Leibniz uses involves two proposed universes situated in absolute space. The only discernible difference between them is that the latter is positioned five feet to the left of the first. The example is only possible if such a thing as absolute space exists. Such a situation, however, is not possible, according to Leibniz, for if it were, a universe's position in absolute space would have no sufficient reason, as it might very well have been anywhere else. Therefore, it contradicts the principle of sufficient reason, and there could exist two distinct universes that were in all ways indiscernible, thus contradicting the identity of indiscernibles.
qas: answers: two
question: Leibniz's example involves how many universes?

answers: absolute space
question: Where are Leibniz's universes situated?

answers: five feet
question: How far are Leibniz's universes situated apart?

answers: absolute space exists
question: What is the only way Leibniz's example would be possible?

context: Standing out in Clarke's (and Newton's) response to Leibniz's arguments is the bucket argument: Water in a bucket, hung from a rope and set to spin, will start with a flat surface. As the water begins to spin in the bucket, the surface of the water will become concave. If the bucket is stopped, the water will continue to spin, and while the spin continues, the surface will remain concave. The concave surface is apparently not the result of the interaction of the bucket and the water, since the surface is flat when the bucket first starts to spin, it becomes concave as the water starts to spin, and it remains concave as the bucket stops.
qas: answers: the bucket argument
question: What stood out in Clark's response to Leibniz?

answers: flat
question: According to Clark's argument, water in a bucket, hung from a rope and spun, will begin with kind of surface?

answers: the water will become concave
question: As the buck spins, what happens to the water?

answers: continue to spin
question: If the buck stops, the water will do what?

answers: the interaction of the bucket and the water
question: What is the surface of the water apparently not caused by?

context: Leibniz describes a space that exists only as a relation between objects, and which has no existence apart from the existence of those objects. Motion exists only as a relation between those objects. Newtonian space provided the absolute frame of reference within which objects can have motion. In Newton's system, the frame of reference exists independently of the objects contained within it. These objects can be described as moving in relation to space itself. For many centuries, the evidence of a concave water surface held authority.
qas: answers: objects
question: Leibniz describes space as existing only as a relation between what?

answers: space
question: According to Leibniz, what has no existence apart from the existence of objections?

answers: Newtonian space
question: What provides the absolute frame of reference within which objects can have motion?

answers: independently
question: In Newton's system, how does the frame of reference exist between objects within it?

answers: many centuries
question: For how long did the evidence of a concave water surface hold authority in reference to space?

context: Mach suggested that thought experiments like the bucket argument are problematic. If we were to imagine a universe that only contains a bucket, on Newton's account, this bucket could be set to spin relative to absolute space, and the water it contained would form the characteristic concave surface. But in the absence of anything else in the universe, it would be difficult to confirm that the bucket was indeed spinning. It seems equally possible that the surface of the water in the bucket would remain flat.
qas: answers: problematic
question: How did Mach describe thought experiments like the bucket argument?

answers: that the bucket was indeed spinning
question: What is difficult to confirm about the bucket in the absence of anything else in the universe?

answers: would remain flat.
question: What was equally possible about the surface of the water in the bucket?

context: Mach argued that, in effect, the water experiment in an otherwise empty universe would remain flat. But if another object were introduced into this universe, perhaps a distant star, there would now be something relative to which the bucket could be seen as rotating. The water inside the bucket could possibly have a slight curve. To account for the curve that we observe, an increase in the number of objects in the universe also increases the curvature in the water. Mach argued that the momentum of an object, whether angular or linear, exists as a result of the sum of the effects of other objects in the universe (Mach's Principle).
qas: answers: would remain flat
question: What did Mach argue about the water experiment in an otherwise empty universe?

answers: the bucket could be seen as rotating
question: What did Mach argue would happen if another object were introduce in the bucket's universe?

answers: increases the curvature
question: What does the increase in the number of objects in the universe do to the curvature of the water?

answers: Mach's Principle
question: The Mach argument is called what?

answers: effects of other objects in the universe
question: Mach argued that the momentum of an object exists as a result of the sum of the effects of what?

context: Albert Einstein proposed that the laws of physics should be based on the principle of relativity. This principle holds that the rules of physics must be the same for all observers, regardless of the frame of reference that is used, and that light propagates at the same speed in all reference frames. This theory was motivated by Maxwell's equations, which show that electromagnetic waves propagate in a vacuum at the speed of light. However, Maxwell's equations give no indication of what this speed is relative to. Prior to Einstein, it was thought that this speed was relative to a fixed medium, called the luminiferous ether. In contrast, the theory of special relativity postulates that light propagates at the speed of light in all inertial frames, and examines the implications of this postulate.
qas: answers: relativity
question: lbert Einstein proposed that the laws of physics should be based on what principle?

answers: all observers
question: The principle of relativity holds that the rules of physics must be the same for who?

answers: the same
question: In all reference frames, how is the the speed of light?

answers: Maxwell
question: Einstein's theory was motivated by who?

answers: the luminiferous ether
question: Before Einstein, speed was though to be relative to what?

context: In classical physics, an inertial reference frame is one in which an object that experiences no forces does not accelerate. In general relativity, an inertial frame of reference is one that is following a geodesic of space-time. An object that moves against a geodesic experiences a force. An object in free fall does not experience a force, because it is following a geodesic. An object standing on the earth, however, will experience a force, as it is being held against the geodesic by the surface of the planet. In light of this, the bucket of water rotating in empty space will experience a force because it rotates with respect to the geodesic. The water will become concave, not because it is rotating with respect to the distant stars, but because it is rotating with respect to the geodesic.
qas: answers: does not accelerate
question: In classical physics, an inertial reference frame is one in which an object without force does what?

answers: an inertial frame of reference
question: What follows a geodesic of space-time?

answers: force
question: An object in free fall does not experience what?

answers: the surface of the planet
question: What holds an object standing on earth against the geodesic?

answers: it is rotating with respect to the geodesic.
question: Why will water become concave, according to the relativity theory?

context: Einstein partially advocates Mach's principle in that distant stars explain inertia because they provide the gravitational field against which acceleration and inertia occur. But contrary to Leibniz's account, this warped space-time is as integral a part of an object as are its other defining characteristics, such as volume and mass. If one holds, contrary to idealist beliefs, that objects exist independently of the mind, it seems that relativistics commits them to also hold that space and temporality have exactly the same type of independent existence.
qas: answers: partially
question: How does Einstein advocate Mach's principle?

answers: contrary
question: How Einstein's theory compared to Leibniz's?

answers: objects exist independently of the mind
question: What is considered contrary to idealist beliefs in regards to space?

context: Coordinative definition has two major features. The first has to do with coordinating units of length with certain physical objects. This is motivated by the fact that we can never directly apprehend length. Instead we must choose some physical object, say the Standard Metre at the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (International Bureau of Weights and Measures), or the wavelength of cadmium to stand in as our unit of length. The second feature deals with separated objects. Although we can, presumably, directly test the equality of length of two measuring rods when they are next to one another, we can not find out as much for two rods distant from one another. Even supposing that two rods, whenever brought near to one another are seen to be equal in length, we are not justified in stating that they are always equal in length. This impossibility undermines our ability to decide the equality of length of two distant objects. Sameness of length, to the contrary, must be set by definition.
qas: answers: two
question: Coordinative definition has how many major features?

answers: coordinating units of length with certain physical objects
question: The first feature of Coordinative definition involves what?

answers: we can never directly apprehend length
question: What is the first feature motivated by?

answers: separated objects
question: The second feature of Coordinative definition involves what?

answers: by definition
question: Sameness of length must be set how?

context: In the classical case, the invariance, or symmetry, group and the covariance group coincide, but, interestingly enough, they part ways in relativistic physics. The symmetry group of the general theory of relativity includes all differentiable transformations, i.e., all properties of an object are dynamical, in other words there are no absolute objects. The formulations of the general theory of relativity, unlike those of classical mechanics, do not share a standard, i.e., there is no single formulation paired with transformations. As such the covariance group of the general theory of relativity is just the covariance group of every theory.
qas: answers: all differentiable transformations
question: The symmetry group of the general theory of relativity includes what?

answers: the covariance group
question: What else besides  invariance, or symmetry and group part ways in relativistic physics?

answers: classical mechanics
question: Which theory does the relativity depart from?

answers: single formulation
question: What are not pair with transformations in the theory of relativity?

answers: every
question:  The covariance group of the general theory of relativity is the covariance group of how many theories?

context: The problem of the direction of time arises directly from two contradictory facts. Firstly, the fundamental physical laws are time-reversal invariant; if a cinematographic film were taken of any process describable by means of the aforementioned laws and then played backwards, it would still portray a physically possible process. Secondly, our experience of time, at the macroscopic level, is not time-reversal invariant. Glasses can fall and break, but shards of glass cannot reassemble and fly up onto tables. We have memories of the past, and none of the future. We feel we can't change the past but can influence the future.
qas: answers: two
question: How many contradictory facts does the problem of the direction of time arise from?

answers: fundamental
question: What kind of physical laws are time-reversal invariant?

answers: physically possible process
question: If if a cinematographic film were taken by means of physical  laws and then played backwards, it would still portray what?

answers: not time-reversal invariant
question: How is our experience of time at the macro level?

answers: the future
question: What do we not have memories of?

context: But in statistical mechanics things get more complicated. On one hand, statistical mechanics is far superior to classical thermodynamics, in that thermodynamic behavior, such as glass breaking, can be explained by the fundamental laws of physics paired with a statistical postulate. But statistical mechanics, unlike classical thermodynamics, is time-reversal symmetric. The second law of thermodynamics, as it arises in statistical mechanics, merely states that it is overwhelmingly likely that net entropy will increase, but it is not an absolute law.
qas: answers: complicated
question: How are things in statistical mechanics? 

answers: statistical mechanics
question: What are superior to classical thermodynamics?

answers: a statistical postulate
question: In order to explain glass breaking, Fundamental laws of physics can be paired with what? 

answers: symmetric
question: Is statistical mechanics asymmetric or symmetric in regards to time-reversal?

answers: not an absolute law
question: What kind of law is the second law of thermodynamics, as it arises in statistical mechanics?

context: A third type of solution to the problem of the direction of time, although much less represented, argues that the laws are not time-reversal symmetric. For example, certain processes in quantum mechanics, relating to the weak nuclear force, are not time-reversible, keeping in mind that when dealing with quantum mechanics time-reversibility comprises a more complex definition. But this type of solution is insufficient because 1) the time-asymmetric phenomena in quantum mechanics are too few to account for the uniformity of macroscopic time-asymmetry and 2) it relies on the assumption that quantum mechanics is the final or correct description of physical processes.[citation needed]
qas: answers: the laws are not time-reversal symmetric
question: What does the third type of solution to the problem of the direction of time argue?

answers: weak nuclear force
question: What is are kind of nuclear force is not time-reversibile?

answers: macroscopic
question: Time asymmetric phenomena in quantum mechanics are to few to account what kind of time-asymmetry?

context: One recent proponent of the laws solution is Tim Maudlin who argues that the fundamental laws of physics are laws of temporal evolution (see Maudlin ). However, elsewhere Maudlin argues: "[the] passage of time is an intrinsic asymmetry in the temporal structure of the world... It is the asymmetry that grounds the distinction between sequences that runs from past to future and sequences which run from future to past" [ibid, 2010 edition, p. 108]. Thus it is arguably difficult to assess whether Maudlin is suggesting that the direction of time is a consequence of the laws or is itself primitive.
qas: answers: Tim Maudlin
question: Who argues that the fundamental laws of physics are laws of temporal evolution?

answers: intrinsic
question: Maudlin argues that the passage of time is what kind of asymmetry?

answers: asymmetry
question: What grounds the distinction between sequences?

answers: Maudlin
question: Whose suggestion is difficult to assess in regards to the direction of time?

context: The problem of the flow of time, as it has been treated in analytic philosophy, owes its beginning to a paper written by J. M. E. McTaggart. In this paper McTaggart proposes two "temporal series". The first series, which means to account for our intuitions about temporal becoming, or the moving Now, is called the A-series. The A-series orders events according to their being in the past, present or future, simpliciter and in comparison to each other. The B-series eliminates all reference to the present, and the associated temporal modalities of past and future, and orders all events by the temporal relations earlier than and later than.
qas: answers: J. M. E. McTaggart
question: Who started the discussion within analytic philosophy on the problem of the flow of time?

answers: two
question: How many "temporal series" did McTaggart propose?

answers: the A-series
question: What was McTaggart's first series called?

answers: each other
question: The A-Series orders events according to their being in the past, present or future and in comparison to what else?

answers: The B-series
question: What is McTaggart's second series called?

context: According to Presentism, time is an ordering of various realities. At a certain time some things exist and others do not. This is the only reality we can deal with and we cannot for example say that Homer exists because at the present time he does not. An Eternalist, on the other hand, holds that time is a dimension of reality on a par with the three spatial dimensions, and hence that all things—past, present, and future—can be said to be just as real as things in the present. According to this theory, then, Homer really does exist, though we must still use special language when talking about somebody who exists at a distant time—just as we would use special language when talking about something far away (the very words near, far, above, below, and such are directly comparable to phrases such as in the past, a minute ago, and so on).
qas: answers: Presentism
question: According to what theory is time an ordering of various realities?

answers: exist
question: Presentism states that at a certain time some things do what?

answers: Eternalist
question: Who believes that time is a dimension of reality on a par with the three spatial dimensions

answers: all things—past, present, and future
question: According to an Eternalist, what can be said to be just as real as things in the present?

answers: special language
question: According to the Eternalist theory, what must we use to describe Homer?

context: The positions on the persistence of objects are somewhat similar. An endurantist holds that for an object to persist through time is for it to exist completely at different times (each instance of existence we can regard as somehow separate from previous and future instances, though still numerically identical with them). A perdurantist on the other hand holds that for a thing to exist through time is for it to exist as a continuous reality, and that when we consider the thing as a whole we must consider an aggregate of all its "temporal parts" or instances of existing. Endurantism is seen as the conventional view and flows out of our pre-philosophical ideas (when I talk to somebody I think I am talking to that person as a complete object, and not just a part of a cross-temporal being), but perdurantists have attacked this position. (An example of a perdurantist is David Lewis.) One argument perdurantists use to state the superiority of their view is that perdurantism is able to take account of change in objects.
qas: answers: somewhat similar
question: How similar are the positions on the persistence of objects?

answers: endurantist
question: Who holds  that for an object to persist through time is for it to exist completely at different times?

answers: perdurantist
question: Who holds for a thing to exist through time is for it to exist as a continuous reality?

answers: Endurantism
question: Which view is seen as conventional?

answers: David Lewis
question: Who is an example of a perdurantist?

context: However, asymmetry of causation can be observed in a non-arbitrary way which is not metaphysical in the case of a human hand dropping a cup of water which smashes into fragments on a hard floor, spilling the liquid. In this order, the causes of the resultant pattern of cup fragments and water spill is easily attributable in terms of the trajectory of the cup, irregularities in its structure, angle of its impact on the floor, etc. However, applying the same event in reverse, it is difficult to explain why the various pieces of the cup should fly up into the human hand and reassemble precisely into the shape of a cup, or why the water should position itself entirely within the cup. The causes of the resultant structure and shape of the cup and the encapsulation of the water by the hand within the cup are not easily attributable, as neither hand nor floor can achieve such formations of the cup or water. This asymmetry is perceivable on account of two features: i) the relationship between the agent capacities of the human hand (i.e., what it is and is not capable of and what it is for) and non-animal agency (i.e., what floors are and are not capable of and what they are for) and ii) that the pieces of cup came to possess exactly the nature and number of those of a cup before assembling. In short, such asymmetry is attributable to the relationship between temporal direction on the one hand and the implications of form and functional capacity on the other.
qas: answers: in a non-arbitrary way
question: How can asymmetry of causation be observed?

answers: two
question: How many features of asymmetry in the cup example can be viewed?

answers: temporal
question: Asymmetry is attributable to a relation of what kind of direction?

answers: implications of form and functional capacity
question: What else, besides direction, is asymmetry attributable to?