SPACETIME COMPOSITION, INTUITION AND FAMILIARITY.

Recent approaches to quantum gravity suggest that spacetime is not a fundamental entity but rather emerges from a non-spatiotemporal structure. To conceptualise how spacetime might emerge, it has been suggested that we should think of spacetime as being mereologically composed of spacetime regions w...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Cosmos & History Vol. 21; no. 2; pp. 318 - 329
Autor principal: Freij, Yazan
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Ashton & Rafferty 2025
Materias:
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
fields @attributes:
  recordID: 1
pdfLink:
plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=191024588&site=ehost-live
header:
  @attributes:
    shortDbName: hlh
    uiTerm: 191024588
    longDbName: Humanities International Complete
    uiTag: AN
  controlInfo:
    bkinfo:
    jinfo:
      jid:
        18329101
        78JL
      jtl: Cosmos & History
      issn: 18329101
      maglogo: N
    pubinfo:
      dt: 2025
      vid: 21
      iid: 2
      pid: 47219
      pub: Ashton & Rafferty
    artinfo:
      ui: 191024588
      ppf: 318
      ppct: 11
      formats:
        fmt:
          @attributes:
            type: P
            size: 478KB
      tig:
        atl: SPACETIME COMPOSITION, INTUITION AND FAMILIARITY.
      aug:
        au: Freij, Yazan
      su:
        Spacetime
        Quantum gravity
        Metaphysics
        Scholarly method
        Intuition
        Familiarity (Psychology)
        Whole & parts (Philosophy)
        Transcendence (Philosophy)
      sug:
        subj:
          Spacetime
          Quantum gravity
          Metaphysics
          Scholarly method
          Intuition
          Familiarity (Psychology)
          Whole & parts (Philosophy)
          Transcendence (Philosophy)
      keyword:
        Composition
        Familiarity
        Mereology
      ab: Recent approaches to quantum gravity suggest that spacetime is not a fundamental entity but rather emerges from a non-spatiotemporal structure. To conceptualise how spacetime might emerge, it has been suggested that we should think of spacetime as being mereologically composed of spacetime regions which are in turn composed of non-spatiotemporal parts. However, Baron (2021) has argued that even if spacetime composition can be shown to be coherent, it would still be different from how we ordinarily conceive the mereology of concrete objects, and thus spacetime composition is unfamiliar. In this paper, I argue that this argument rests on the false premise that our intuitions apply equally to all domains. I then reformulate four principles that are taken to be intuitive for mereological composition. In their original formulations, these principles are violated by spacetime composition. But once reformulated, the tension with spacetime composition dissolves. I also show that these reformulations still satisfy our intuitions in the domain of everyday life but also extend beyond it into other domains. As a result, I maintain that spacetime composition is at least somewhat familiar with the potential that its familiarity will grow in the future. Therefore, there is no reason to reject it as unfamiliar.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
    refInfo:
    copyright:
      @attributes:
        flag: Y
      custom: Copyright of Cosmos & History is the property of Ashton & Rafferty and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
      item: Cosmos & History
      holder: Ashton & Rafferty
      dt:
        @attributes:
          year: 2025
    holdings:
      @attributes:
        islocal: N