Toward a Directionalist Theory of Space

Toward a Directionalist Theory of Space PDF

Author: H. Scott Hestevold

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2020-07-02

Total Pages: 221

ISBN-13: 1498579973

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In Toward a Directionalist Theory of Space: On Going Nowhere, H. Scott Hestevold formulates a new relationalist theory of space by appealing to the view that the universe is directioned in the sense that there exist directional relations—a class of spatial relations that Leibniz overlooked. Extending the directionalist/relationalist theory of space to the problem of when it is that discrete objects compose a whole, Hestevold revisits his answer to the Special Composition Question. He also uses the directionalist/relationalist theory to formulate reductivist theories of boundaries and holes—theories that may allow one to resist the view that boundaries and holes are ontologically parasitic entities. Finally, he explores directionalism/relationalism vis-à-vis spacetime. After noting findings of modern physics that favor substantivalist spacetime and then developing metaphysical concerns that favor instead directionalist/relationalist spacetime, Hestevold notes the ontological benefit of endorsing spatiotemporal directional relations even if spacetime substantivalism is the winning theory.

On Dwelling

On Dwelling PDF

Author: Dennis Skocz

Publisher: Lexington Books

Published: 2023-10-16

Total Pages: 239

ISBN-13: 1666918296

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On Dwelling explores the meaning of dwelling in places where we humans live and work—from our homes to the very planet we co-inhabit. Crossing boundaries and disciplines, it lays the groundwork for addressing place-based issues like migration, ethnic division, resource use, and human-caused peril to the earth itself.

American Camino

American Camino PDF

Author: Kip Redick

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2023-10-15

Total Pages: 359

ISBN-13: 1666916706

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This book explores the relationship between long-distance hiking—in this case, hiking the Appalachian Trail—and spiritual pilgrimage. Kip Redick interprets the Appalachian Trail as a site of spiritual journey and those who hike the wilderness trail as unique contemporary pilgrims.

The Place of the Mosque

The Place of the Mosque PDF

Author: Akel Isma'il Kahera

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2022-06-14

Total Pages: 245

ISBN-13: 1793646880

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The Place of the Mosque: Genealogies of Space, Knowledge, and Power extends Foucault’s analysis, Of Other Spaces, and the “ideological conflicts which underlie the controversies of our day [and] take place between pious descendants of time and tenacious inhabitants of space.” This book uses Foucault’s framework to illuminate how mosques have been threatened in the past, from the Cordóba Mosque in the eighth century, to the development of Moorish aesthetics in the United States in the nineteenth century, to the clashes surrounding the building of mosques in the West in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Akel Kahera uses Foucault’s genealogy to elaborate on and study the subjects that are caught in the emergence of a battle—the social and political will to power, the networks of power, and the rituals of power—within the interstitial space. In going beyond individual buildings to broader geographical and genealogical dimensions of the power struggles, The Place of the Mosque reconciles the public space experience, governmentality, and micro powers, paving the way for a new philosophical language. Expanding architectural and urban regional approaches, Kahera shows the biopolitical significance of the problem of space.

Towards a Theory of Spacetime Theories

Towards a Theory of Spacetime Theories PDF

Author: Dennis Lehmkuhl

Publisher: Birkhäuser

Published: 2017-01-05

Total Pages: 335

ISBN-13: 1493932101

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This contributed volume is the result of a July 2010 workshop at the University of Wuppertal Interdisciplinary Centre for Science and Technology Studies which brought together world-wide experts from physics, philosophy and history, in order to address a set of questions first posed in the 1950s: How do we compare spacetime theories? How do we judge, objectively, which is the “best” theory? Is there even a unique answer to this question? The goal of the workshop, and of this book, is to contribute to the development of a meta-theory of spacetime theories. Such a meta-theory would reveal insights about specific spacetime theories by distilling their essential similarities and differences, deliver a framework for a class of theories that could be helpful as a blueprint to build other meta-theories, and provide a higher level viewpoint for judging which theory most accurately describes nature. But rather than drawing a map in broad strokes, the focus is on particularly rich regions in the “space of spacetime theories.” This work will be of interest to physicists, as well as philosophers and historians of science working with or interested in General Relativity and/or Space, Time and Gravitation more generally.

Being Nobody, Going Nowhere

Being Nobody, Going Nowhere PDF

Author: Ayya Khema

Publisher: Wisdom Publications (MA)

Published: 1987

Total Pages: 208

ISBN-13:

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Techniques for developing meditative insight and compassion, written with pure sincerity by a Western Buddhist nun.

The Science of Energy

The Science of Energy PDF

Author: Crosbie Smith

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 424

ISBN-13: 9780226764207

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Although we take it for granted today, the concept of "energy" transformed nineteenth-century physics. In The Science of Energy, Crosbie Smith shows how a North British group of scientists and engineers, including James Joule, James Clerk Maxwell, William and James Thomson, Fleeming Jenkin, and P. G. Tait, developed energy physics to solve practical problems encountered by Scottish shipbuilders and marine engineers; to counter biblical revivalism and evolutionary materialism; and to rapidly enhance their own scientific credibility. Replacing the language and concepts of classical mechanics with terms such as "actual" and "potential" energy, the North British group conducted their revolution in physics so astutely and vigorously that the concept of "energy"—a valuable commodity in the early days of industrialization—became their intellectual property. Smith skillfully places this revolution in its scientific and cultural context, exploring the actual creation of scientific knowledge during one of the most significant episodes in the history of physics.

Biology, Religion, and Philosophy

Biology, Religion, and Philosophy PDF

Author: Michael Peterson

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2021-04-08

Total Pages: 285

ISBN-13: 1107031486

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A comprehensive and accessible survey of the major issues at the biology-religion interface.

Charles Darwin's Incomplete Revolution

Charles Darwin's Incomplete Revolution PDF

Author: Richard G. Delisle

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2019-06-28

Total Pages: 276

ISBN-13: 3030172031

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This book offers a thorough reanalysis of Charles Darwin's Origin of Species, which for many people represents the work that alone gave rise to evolutionism. Of course, scholars today know better than that. Yet, few resist the temptation of turning to the Origin in order to support it or reject it in light of their own work. Apparently, Darwin fills the mythical role of a founding figure that must either be invoked or repudiated. The book is an invitation to move beyond what is currently expected of Darwin's magnum opus. Once the rhetorical varnish of Darwin's discourses is removed, one discovers a work of remarkably indecisive conclusions. The book comprises two main theses: (1) The Origin of Species never remotely achieved the theoretical unity to which it is often credited. Rather, Darwin was overwhelmed by a host of phenomena that could not fit into his narrow conceptual framework. (2) In the Origin of Species, Darwin failed at completing the full conversion to evolutionism. Carrying many ill-designed intellectual tools of the 17th and 18th centuries, Darwin merely promoted a special brand of evolutionism, one that prevented him from taking the decisive steps toward an open and modern evolutionism. It makes an interesting read for biologists, historians and philosophers alike.

The Forgotten Genius

The Forgotten Genius PDF

Author: Stephen Inwood

Publisher: MacAdam/Cage Publishing

Published: 2005-05-03

Total Pages: 534

ISBN-13: 9781596921153

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In Inwood's biography of this forgotten scientist, Robert Hooke and his world are vividly recreated with all their contradictions, successes, and failures. The Forgotten Genius is an absorbing and compelling study of this unduly overlooked man.