The Shape of Space [Hardcover]

Second (revised) edition of classic book in philosophy of space, for graduate and scholarly use.Originally published in 1976, this revised and updated edition of a classic study develops a metaphysical account of space, treating it as a real and concrete entity and showing that the shape of space plays a key explanatory role in space and spacetime theories.Originally published in 1976, this revised and updated edition of a classic study develops a metaphysical account of space, treating it as a real and concrete entity and showing that the shape of space plays a key explanatory role in space and spacetime theories.This is a revised and updated edition of Graham Nerlich's classic book (1976). It develops a metaphysical account of space that treats it as a real and concrete entity, showing that shape plays a key explanatory role in space and spacetime theories. Arguing that geometrical explanation is very like causal explanation, Professor Nerlich prepares the ground for philosophical argument and investigates how different spaces would affect perception differently. Along the way Professor Nerlich criticizes and rejects conventionalism as a non-realist metaphysics of space, concluding that there is, in fact, no problem of underdetermination for this aspect of spacetime theories, while offering an extensive discussion of the relativity of motion.Introduction; 1. Space and spatial relations; 2. Hands, knees and absolute space; 3. Euclidean and other shapes; 4. Geometrical structures in space and spacetime; 5. Shapes and the imagination; 6. The aims of conventionalism; 7. Against conventionalism; 8. Reichenbach's treatment of topology; 9. Measuring space: fact or convention?; 10. The relativity of motion; Bibliography; Index.'A fresh - and much needed - realistic perspective to the philosophy of space.' Philosophia