Philosophical and epistemological views of the notion of space

TL;DR

This paper traces the historical evolution of the concept of space from mythological to Newtonian models, emphasizing the importance of mathematical modeling in understanding physical space.

Contribution

It provides a historical overview of how the conceptualization of space has developed, highlighting the shift towards mathematizable models from antiquity to the 20th century.

Findings

Historical development of space concepts from mythological to scientific models

Emphasis on the role of mathematical modeling in understanding physical space

Highlighting the Newtonian perception as a dominant modern view

Abstract

From antiquity the conceptual perception of space changed painfully and at a relatively slow pace. It went through mythological descriptions, religious beliefs, metaphysical worldviews and cosmological models with a mechanistic structure, until it reached the Newtonian perception of the infinite and homogeneous three-dimensional continuum, which dominates to this day as a "common perception" even in education. This perception of space, which today seems self-evident, is the culmination of a long historical development, which we will try to outline. Our aim is to briefly present the conceptual course of models related to natural space from antiquity to the 20th century, focusing on the theories and models that can be mathematized. At the same time we try to highlight one of the most important starting points of geometric concepts, which is the need for mathematical modeling of physical space, as in modern education there is no such view.