Journal of Philosophical Investigations

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Assistant Professor of Mathematics, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

In the last two centuries, a better understanding of nature and significant advances in science and technology have led to the emergence of new and exciting ideas and approaches. Almost all of them are known as the product of contemporary science. Ideas such as evolution in biology, the ideas about the beginning of the universe (models based on the existence of a starting point for the universe or otherwise), and the idea of parallel worlds in physics. Although these ideas have flourished in the context of modern science, they contain important philosophical backgrounds and as a result, have some important philosophical consequences.  In this article, a historical review of the writings and works of Ibn Sina shows that each of these ideas has been presented similarly since ancient times in natural philosophy. Therefore, their position is more philosophical than scientific. Using these theories without considering their metaphysical and non-experimental assumptions will lead to misconceptions. Many of the challenges between science and religion stem from not considering the limits of empirical science and a lack of attention to the metaphysical assumptions of scientific theories. In this article, we will explain Ibn Sina's reasons for or against these theories as one of the first people to explicitly examine the scientific and philosophical aspects of these theories. Ibn Sina's scientific accuracy and admirable scientific spirit can be enlightening for contemporary scholars.

Keywords

  • Anderson, James L‌‌. (1967) Principles of Relativity Physics, Academic Press‌.
  • Callender, C‌‌. and Huggett, N‌‌. (2004) "Introduction", In Callender, C‌‌. and Huggett, N‌‌. (eds‌. ), Physics Meets Philosophy at the Planck Scale: Contemporary Theories in Quantum Gravity, Cambridge University Press‌.
  • Carlip, Steven (2019) General Relativity: A Concise Introduction, Oxford University Press‌.
  • Carroll, Sean M‌‌. (2004) Spacetime and Geometry, Pearson Education, Inc‌‌. publishing as Addison Wesley‌.
  • D’Inverno, Ray (1992) Introducing Einstein’s Relativity, Oxford University Press‌.
  • De Haro, Sebastian (2019) "Science and Philosophy: A Love-Hate Relationship", Foundations of Science, 25, 297–314‌.
  • Earman, J‌‌. (2006a) "Two challenges to the requirement of substantive general covariance", Synthese, 148, pp‌‌. 443–68‌.
  • Earman, J‌‌. (2006b) "The implications of general covariance for the ontology and ideology of spacetime", In Dieks, D‌‌. (ed‌. ), The ontology of spacetime, Elsevier, pp‌‌. 3–24‌.
  • Earman, J‌‌. and Norton, J‌‌. (1987) "What price spacetime substantivalism? The hole story", British Journal of Philosophy of Science, 38, pp‌. 515–525‌.
  • Engler, Fynn Ole (2009) "Über das erkenntnistheoretische Raumproblem", in Stadler et al‌. , pp‌‌. 107–145‌.
  • Friedman, Michael (1983) Foundations of space-time theories: Relativistic physics and philosophy of science, Princeton University Press‌.
  • Giovanelli, Marco (2013) "Erich Kretschmann as a Proto-Logical-Empiricist: Adventures and Misadventures of the Point-Coincidence Argument", Studies In History and Philosophy of Science, Part B: Studies In History and Philosophy of Modern Physics, 44(2), pp‌. 115–13‌‌.
  • Golshani, Mehdi (2011) Physics and Philosophy: A Critique of Contemporary Physicists’ Philosophy of Physics, Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies Press, Tehran (in Persian)
  • Gutfreund, Hanoch and Renn, Jurgen‌‌. (2015) "The Road to Relativity", The History and Meaning of Einstein’s “The Foundation of General Relativity, Princeton University Press‌.
  • Gutfreund, Hanoch and Renn, Jurgen‌‌. (2017) "The Formative Years of Relativity": The History and Meaning of Einstein’s Princeton Lectures, Princeton University Press‌.
  • Hawking, S‌‌. and Mlodinow, L‌‌. (2010) The Grand Design, Bantam Books‌.
  • Helzer, Gary (2000) "Special Relativity with Acceleratin", American Mathematical Monthly, 3(107), pp‌. 219-237‌.
  • Howard, Don A‌‌. (2017) "Einstein's Philosophy of Science", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Edward N‌‌. Zalta (ed‌. ), https://plato‌. stanford‌. edu/archives/fall2017/entries/einstein-philscience/
  • Huggett, Nick (2010) Everywhere and Everywhen: Adventures in Physics and Philosophy, Oxford University Press‌.
  • Johns, Oliver David (2019) "Validity of the Einstein Hole Argument?" Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics, vol‌. 68, pp‌. 62-70‌‌. Arxiv: 1907‌. 01614‌.
  • Ladyman, J‌. , Presnell, S‌‌. (2020) "The Hole Argument in Homotopy Type Theory", Foundations of Physics, vol‌‌. 50, pp‌‌. 319–329‌.
  • Misner, Charles W‌. , Thorne, Kip S‌‌. and Wheeler, John A‌‌. (1973) Gravitation, W‌. H‌‌. Freeman‌.
  • Norton John D‌‌. (1995) "Did Einstein Stumble? The Debate over General Covariance", Erkenntnis, Vol‌‌. 42: 223-245‌.
  • Oberdan, Thomas (2017) "Moritz Schlick", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Edward N‌‌. Zalta (ed‌. ), https://plato‌. stanford‌. edu/archives/win2017/entries/schlick/
  • Pooley, Oliver (2010) "Substantive General Covariance: Another Decade of Dispute", In Suàrez M‌‌. et al‌‌. (eds‌. ), EPSA Philosophical Issues in the Sciences: Launch of the European Philosophy of Science Association, Springer.
  • Rindler, Wolfgang (2006) Essential Relativity: Special, General and Cosmological (2nd edition), Oxford University Press‌.
  • Roberts, Bryan (2020) "Regarding ‘Leibniz Equivalence", Foundations of Physics, 50, pp‌. 250–269‌.
  • Rosenberg, Alex (2005) Philosophy of Science: A Contemporary Introduction (2nd edition), Routledge‌.
  • Rovelli, Carlo (2018) "Physics Needs Philosophy‌‌. Philosophy Needs Physics", Foundations of Physics, 48(5): 481-491‌.
  • Rovelli, Carlo (2008) Quantum Gravity, Cambridge University Press‌.
  • Sanders, Ko (2020) "What Can (Mathematical) Categories Tell Us about Spacetime?" In Huggett, N‌. , Matsubara, K‌‌. and Wuthrich, C‌‌. (eds‌. ), Beyond Spacetime: The Foundations of Quantum Gravity, Cambridge University Press‌.
  • Schlosshauer, Maximillian, ed‌‌. (2011) Elegance and Enigma: The Quantum Interviews, Springer-Verlag‌.
  • Smolin, L‌‌. and Unger, Robrto M‌‌. (2014) The Singular Universe and the Reality of Time, Cambridge University Press‌.
  • Stachel, John (2007) "The First Two Acts, in Janssen, Norton, Renn, Sauer Stachel" (eds‌.), The Genesis of General Relativity, Springer, pp‌‌. 81-111.
  • Straumann, Norbert (2013) General Relativity, Springer‌.
  • Stein, Howard (1977) Some Philosophical Prehistory of General Relativity, In Earman, J‌‌. et al‌‌. (eds. ), Foundations of Space-Time Theories, University of Minnesota Press, pp‌‌. 3-49‌.
  • Weatherall, James O‌‌. (2020) "Some Philosophical Prehistory of the (Earman-Norton) Hole Argument", Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics, 70, pp‌. 79-87‌‌.
  • Weatherall, James O‌‌. (2016) "Regarding the ‘Hole Argument", The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science,Vol‌‌. 69, Num‌‌. 2, pp‌‌. 329-350‌.
  • Weinberg, Steven (1994) Dreams of a Final Theory: The Scientist’s Search for the Ultimate Law’s of Nature, Vintage Books‌.
  • Weingard, Robert (1979) "Some Philosophical Aspects of Black Holes", Synthese, vol‌‌. 42, no‌‌. 1, pp‌‌. 191–219‌.
CAPTCHA Image