Space and Time as Containers of the "Physical Material World" with some Conceptual and Epistemological Consequences in Modern Physics

TL;DR

This paper revisits traditional qualitative views of space and time as containers of matter and events, arguing that such perspectives can clarify conceptual and epistemological issues in modern physics.

Contribution

It highlights the importance of a qualitative, synthetic approach to understanding space and time, contrasting it with the modern quantitative and analytic methods.

Findings

Revisiting traditional conceptions clarifies modern scientific questions.

Qualitative views of space and time offer new insights into the physical material world.

Challenges modern physics to integrate qualitative perspectives.

Abstract

A particular science is not only defined by its object of study, but also by the point of view and method under which it considers that same object. Taking space and time as an illustrative example, our main aim here is to bring out an almost forgotten conception of science found in many doctrines that seek mainly-but not only-a qualitative and synthetic knowledge rather than, as in modern physics, for example, a quantitative and analytic knowledge. The latter point of view is found to be very limited and fragmented, leaving outside many scientific questions and answers, while the former opens up the way to valuable and interesting answers to those and many other questions. In particular, we argue that the conception of space and time as containers of, respectively, bodies and events, clarify many conceptual and epistemological issues of modern science related to the physical material world.