Space as a source and as an object of knowledge

the transformation of the concept of space in the post-Kantian philosophy of geometry

Francesca Biagioli

pp. 3-14

in: Shyam Wuppuluri, Giancarlo Ghirardi (eds), Space, time and the limits of human understanding, Berlin, Springer, 2017

Abstract

This paper deals with the transformation of the concept of space in the post-Kantian philosophy of geometry from the second half of the nineteenth century to the early twentieth century. Kant famously characterized space and time as forms of intuitions, which lie at the foundations of the apodictic knowledge of mathematics. The success of his philosophical account of space was due not least to the fact that Euclidean geometry was widely considered to be a model of apodictic certainty at that time. However, such later scientific developments as non-Euclidean geometries and the general theory of relativity called into question the certainty of Euclidean geometry and posed the problem of reconsidering space not so much as a source of knowledge, but as an open question for empirical research.

Cited authors

Kant Immanuel