World Enough and Space-Time

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Publisher : Bradford Books
ISBN 13 : 9780262550215
Total Pages : 250 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (52 download)

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Book Synopsis World Enough and Space-Time by : John Earman

Download or read book World Enough and Space-Time written by John Earman and published by Bradford Books. This book was released on 1992-03-01 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Newton's Principia introduced conceptions of space and time that launched one of themost famous and sustained debates in the history of physics, a controversy that involves fundamentalconcerns in the foundations of physics, metaphysics, and scientific epistemology.This bookintroduces and clarifies the historical and philosophical development of the clash between Newton'sabsolute conception of space and Leibniz's relational one. It separates the issues and provides newperspectives on absolute relational accounts of motion and relational-substantival accounts of theontology of space time.Earman's sustained treatment and imaginative insights raise to a new levelthe debate on these important issues at the boundary of philosophy and physics. He surveys thehistory of the controversy from Newton to Einstein develops the mathematics and physics needed topose the issues in sharp form and provides a persuasive assessment of the philosophical problemsinvolved.Most importantly, Earman revitalizes the connection of the debate to contemporary science.He shows, for example, how concerns raised by Leibniz form the core of ongoing debate on thefoundations of general theory of relativity, moving the discussion into a new and vital arena andintroducing arguments that will be discussed for years to come.John Earman is Professor of Historyand Philosophy of Science at the University of Pittsburgh. A Bradford Book

Asymmetries In Time

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Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 0262580888
Total Pages : 235 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (625 download)

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Book Synopsis Asymmetries In Time by : Paul Horwich

Download or read book Asymmetries In Time written by Paul Horwich and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 1987-04-01 with total page 235 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Time is generally thought to be one of the more mysterious ingredients of the universe. In this intriguing book, Paul Horwich makes precise and explicit the interrelationships between time and a large number of philosophically important notions. Ideas of temporal order and priority interact in subtle and convoluted ways with the deepest elements in our network of basic concepts. Confronting this conceptual jigsaw puzzle, Horwich notes that there are glaring differences in how we regard the past and future directions of time. For example, we can influence the future but not the past, and can easily gain knowledge of the past but not of the future. Moreover we see a profusion of decay processes but little spontaneous generation of order; time appears to "flow" in one privileged direction, not the other; and we tend to explain phenomena in terms of antecedent circumstances, rather than subsequent ones. Horwich explains such time asymmetries and examines their bearing on the nature of time itself. Asymmetries in Time covers many notoriously difficult problems in the philosophy of science: causation, knowledge, entropy, explanation, time travel, rational choice (including Newcomb's problem), laws of nature, and counterfactual implication—and gives a unified treatment of these matters. The book covers an unusually broad range of topics in a lucid and nontechnical way and includes alternative points of view in the philosophical literature.

Space, Time, and Theology in the Leibniz-Newton Controversy

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Author :
Publisher : Walter de Gruyter
ISBN 13 : 3110328305
Total Pages : 178 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (13 download)

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Book Synopsis Space, Time, and Theology in the Leibniz-Newton Controversy by : Edward J. Khamara

Download or read book Space, Time, and Theology in the Leibniz-Newton Controversy written by Edward J. Khamara and published by Walter de Gruyter. This book was released on 2013-05-02 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the famous Correspondence with Clarke, which took place during the last year of Leibniz’s life, Leibniz advanced several arguments purporting to refute the absolute theory of space and time that was held by Newton and his followers. The main aim of this book is to reassess Leibniz’s attack on the Newtonian theory in so far as he relied on the principle of the identity of indiscernibles. The theological side of the controversy is not ignored but isolated and discussed in the last three chapters, which deal with problems connected with the notions of omnipotence and omniscience.

The Biggest Ideas in the Universe

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Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 0593186591
Total Pages : 305 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (931 download)

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Book Synopsis The Biggest Ideas in the Universe by : Sean Carroll

Download or read book The Biggest Ideas in the Universe written by Sean Carroll and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2022-09-20 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “Most appealing... technical accuracy and lightness of tone... Impeccable.”—Wall Street Journal “A porthole into another world.”—Scientific American “Brings science dissemination to a new level.”—Science The most trusted explainer of the most mind-boggling concepts pulls back the veil of mystery that has too long cloaked the most valuable building blocks of modern science. Sean Carroll, with his genius for making complex notions entertaining, presents in his uniquely lucid voice the fundamental ideas informing the modern physics of reality. Physics offers deep insights into the workings of the universe but those insights come in the form of equations that often look like gobbledygook. Sean Carroll shows that they are really like meaningful poems that can help us fly over sierras to discover a miraculous multidimensional landscape alive with radiant giants, warped space-time, and bewilderingly powerful forces. High school calculus is itself a centuries-old marvel as worthy of our gaze as the Mona Lisa. And it may come as a surprise the extent to which all our most cutting-edge ideas about black holes are built on the math calculus enables. No one else could so smoothly guide readers toward grasping the very equation Einstein used to describe his theory of general relativity. In the tradition of the legendary Richard Feynman lectures presented sixty years ago, this book is an inspiring, dazzling introduction to a way of seeing that will resonate across cultural and generational boundaries for many years to come.

Understanding Space-Time

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Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 9781139452663
Total Pages : 204 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (526 download)

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Book Synopsis Understanding Space-Time by : Robert DiSalle

Download or read book Understanding Space-Time written by Robert DiSalle and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2006-04-27 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presenting the history of space-time physics, from Newton to Einstein, as a philosophical development DiSalle reflects our increasing understanding of the connections between ideas of space and time and our physical knowledge. He suggests that philosophy's greatest impact on physics has come about, less by the influence of philosophical hypotheses, than by the philosophical analysis of concepts of space, time and motion, and the roles they play in our assumptions about physical objects and physical measurements. This way of thinking leads to interpretations of the work of Newton and Einstein and the connections between them. It also offers ways of looking at old questions about a priori knowledge, the physical interpretation of mathematics, and the nature of conceptual change. Understanding Space-Time will interest readers in philosophy, history and philosophy of science, and physics, as well as readers interested in the relations between physics and philosophy.

Global Spacetime Structure

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Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1108890741
Total Pages : 92 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (88 download)

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Book Synopsis Global Spacetime Structure by : JB Manchak

Download or read book Global Spacetime Structure written by JB Manchak and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2020-12-03 with total page 92 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This exploration of the global structure of spacetime within the context of general relativity examines the causal and singular structures of spacetime, revealing some of the curious possibilities that are compatible with the theory, such as 'time travel' and 'holes' of various types. Investigations into the epistemic and modal structures of spacetime highlight the difficulties in ruling out such possibilities, unlikely as they may seem at first. The upshot seems to be that what counts as a 'physically reasonable' spacetime structure in modern physics is far from clear.

The Large Scale Structure of Space-Time

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Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1139810952
Total Pages : pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (398 download)

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Book Synopsis The Large Scale Structure of Space-Time by : S. W. Hawking

Download or read book The Large Scale Structure of Space-Time written by S. W. Hawking and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1975-02-27 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Einstein's General Theory of Relativity leads to two remarkable predictions: first, that the ultimate destiny of many massive stars is to undergo gravitational collapse and to disappear from view, leaving behind a 'black hole' in space; and secondly, that there will exist singularities in space-time itself. These singularities are places where space-time begins or ends, and the presently known laws of physics break down. They will occur inside black holes, and in the past are what might be construed as the beginning of the universe. To show how these predictions arise, the authors discuss the General Theory of Relativity in the large. Starting with a precise formulation of the theory and an account of the necessary background of differential geometry, the significance of space-time curvature is discussed and the global properties of a number of exact solutions of Einstein's field equations are examined. The theory of the causal structure of a general space-time is developed, and is used to study black holes and to prove a number of theorems establishing the inevitability of singualarities under certain conditions. A discussion of the Cauchy problem for General Relativity is also included in this 1973 book.

The Ontology of Spacetime

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Author :
Publisher : Elsevier
ISBN 13 : 9780080461885
Total Pages : 306 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (618 download)

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Book Synopsis The Ontology of Spacetime by :

Download or read book The Ontology of Spacetime written by and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2006-07-10 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book contains selected papers from the First International Conference on the Ontology of Spacetime. Its fourteen chapters address two main questions: first, what is the current status of the substantivalism/relationalism debate, and second, what about the prospects of presentism and becoming within present-day physics and its philosophy? The overall tenor of the four chapters of the book’s first part is that the prospects of spacetime substantivalism are bleak, although different possible positions remain with respect to the ontological status of spacetime. Part II and Part III of the book are devoted to presentism, eternalism, and becoming, from two different perspectives. In the six chapters of Part II it is argued, in different ways, that relativity theory does not have essential consequences for these issues. It certainly is true that the structure of time is different, according to relativity theory, from the one in classical theory. But that does not mean that a decision is forced between presentism and eternalism, or that becoming has proved to be an impossible concept. It may even be asked whether presentism and eternalism really offer different ontological perspectives at all. The writers of the last four chapters, in Part III, disagree. They argue that relativity theory is incompatible with becoming and presentism. Several of them come up with proposals to go beyond relativity, in order to restore the prospects of presentism. · Space and time in present-day physics and philosophy · Introduction from scratch of the debates surrounding time · Broad spectrum of approaches, coherently represented

Incarnation and Physics

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Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN 13 : 0195151895
Total Pages : 241 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (951 download)

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Book Synopsis Incarnation and Physics by : Tapio Luoma

Download or read book Incarnation and Physics written by Tapio Luoma and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2002 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tapio Luoma examines Thomas F. Torrance's claim that modern empirical sciences are actually an outcome of the Christian theology of the early church. He shows how Torrence's reformed concern for the doctrine of election has affected his view of realism.

Cartesian Spacetime

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Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN 13 : 9401709750
Total Pages : 253 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (17 download)

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Book Synopsis Cartesian Spacetime by : E. Slowik

Download or read book Cartesian Spacetime written by E. Slowik and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-03-14 with total page 253 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although Descartes' natural philosophy marked an advance in the development of modern science, many critics over the years, such as Newton, have rejected his particular `relational' theory of space and motion. Nevertheless, it is also true that most historians and philosophers have not sufficiently investigated the viability of the Cartesian theory. This book explores, consequently, the success of the arguments against Descartes' theory of space and motion by determining if it is possible to formulate a version that can eliminate its alleged problems. In essence, this book comprises the first sustained attempt to construct a consistent `Cartesian' spacetime theory: that is, a theory of space and time that consistently incorporates Descartes' various physical and metaphysical concepts. Intended for students in the history of philosophy and science, this study reveals the sophisticated insights, and often quite successful elements, in Descartes' unjustly neglected relational theory of space and motion.

The Ontology of Spacetime II

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Author :
Publisher : Elsevier
ISBN 13 : 9780080569888
Total Pages : 357 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (698 download)

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Book Synopsis The Ontology of Spacetime II by :

Download or read book The Ontology of Spacetime II written by and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2008-06-17 with total page 357 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The sixteen papers collected in this volume are expanded and revised versions of talks delivered at the Second International Conference on the Ontology of Spacetime, organized by the International Society for the Advanced Study of Spacetime (John Earman, President) at Concordia University (Montreal) from 9 to 11 June 2006. Most chapters are devoted to subjects directly relating to the ontology of spacetime. The book starts with four papers that discuss the ontological status of spacetime and the processes occurring in it from a point of view that is first of all conceptual and philosophical. The focus then slightly shifts in the five papers that follow, to considerations more directly involving technical considerations from relativity theory. After this, Time, Becoming and Change take centre stage in the next five papers. The book ends with two excursions into relatively uncharted territory: a consideration of the status of Kaluza-Klein theory, and an investigation of possible relations between the nature of spacetime and condensed matter physics, respectively. Space and time in present-day physics and philosophy Relatively low level of technicality, easily accessible Introduction from scratch of the debates surrounding time Broad spectrum of approaches, coherently represented

Leibniz & Clarke

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Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN 13 : 0195113993
Total Pages : 263 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (951 download)

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Book Synopsis Leibniz & Clarke by : Ezio Vailati

Download or read book Leibniz & Clarke written by Ezio Vailati and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 1997 with total page 263 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The correspondence between Leibniz and Samuel Clarke (1715-??) was probably the most famous and influential philosophical exchange of the eighteenth century. It focused on the clash between the Newtonian and Leibnizian world systems, involving disputes in physics, theology, and metaphysics. The letters ranged over an extraordinary array of topics: divine immensity and eternity, the relation of God to the world, the soul and its relation to the body, free will, space and time, the nature of miracles, the nature of matter, the existence of atoms and the void, the size of the universe, and the nature of motive force. Vailati's book provides a comprehensive overview and commentary on this important body of letters. He not only identifies and evaluates the various arguments, but situates the views advanced by the correspondents in the context of their principal writings.

Symmetry, Structure, and Spacetime

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Publisher : Elsevier
ISBN 13 : 0444531165
Total Pages : 243 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (445 download)

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Book Synopsis Symmetry, Structure, and Spacetime by : Dean Rickles

Download or read book Symmetry, Structure, and Spacetime written by Dean Rickles and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2008 with total page 243 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book Rickles considers several interpretative difficulties raised by gauge-type symmetries (those that correspond to no change in physical state). The ubiquity of such symmetries in modern physics renders them an urgent topic in philosophy of physics. Rickles focuses on spacetime physics, and in particular classical and quantum general relativity. Here the problems posed are at their most pathological, involving the apparent disappearance of spacetime! Rickles argues that both traditional ontological positions should be replaced by a structuralist account according to which relational structure is what the physics is about. · Unified treatment of gauge symmetries and their relationship to ontology in physics · Brings philosophy of space and time into step with developments in modern physics · Argues against the received view on the implications of symmetries in physics · Provides elementary treatments of technical issues · Illustrates a novel defense of structuralism

The Non-Fundamentality of Spacetime

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Author :
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
ISBN 13 : 100098463X
Total Pages : 267 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (9 download)

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Book Synopsis The Non-Fundamentality of Spacetime by : Kian Salimkhani

Download or read book The Non-Fundamentality of Spacetime written by Kian Salimkhani and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2023-10-06 with total page 267 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book argues that our current best theories of fundamental physics are best interpreted as positing spacetime as non-fundamental. It is written in accessible language and largely avoids mathematical technicalities by instead focusing on the key metaphysical and foundational lessons for the fundamentality of spacetime. According to orthodoxy, spacetime and spatiotemporal properties are regarded as fundamental structures of our world. Spacetime fundamentalism, however, faces challenges from speculative theories of quantum gravity – roughly speaking, the project of applying the lessons of quantum mechanics to gravitation and spacetime. This book demonstrates that the non-fundamentality of spacetime does not rely on speculative physics alone. Rather, one can give an interpretation of general relativity that supports some form of spacetime non-fundamentalism. The author makes the case for spacetime non-fundamentalism in three steps. First, he confronts the standard geometrical interpretation of general relativity with Brown and Pooley’s dynamical approach to relativity theory. Second, he considers an alternative derivation of the Einstein field equations, namely the classical spin-2 approach, and argues that it paves the way for a refined dynamical approach to general relativity. Finally, he argues that particle physics can serve as a continuity condition for the metaphysics of spacetime. The Non-Fundamentality of Spacetime will be of interest to scholars and advanced students working in philosophy of physics, philosophy of science, and metaphysics.

Beyond Peaceful Coexistence

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Publisher : World Scientific
ISBN 13 : 1783268336
Total Pages : 740 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (832 download)

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Book Synopsis Beyond Peaceful Coexistence by : Licata Ignazio

Download or read book Beyond Peaceful Coexistence written by Licata Ignazio and published by World Scientific. This book was released on 2016-03-30 with total page 740 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'It may be that a real synthesis of quantum and relativity theories requires not just technical developments but radical conceptual renewal.'J S BellBeyond Peaceful Coexistence: The Emergence of Space, Time and Quantum brings together leading academics in mathematics and physics to address going beyond the 'peaceful coexistence' of space-time descriptions (local and continuous ones) and quantum events (discrete and non-commutative ones). Formidable challenges waiting beyond the Standard Model require a new semantic consistency within the theories in order to build new ways of understanding, working and relating to them. The original A. Shimony meaning of the peaceful coexistence (the collapse postulate and non-locality) appear to be just the tip of the iceberg in relation to more serious fundamental issues across physics as a whole.Chapters in this book present perspectives on emergent, discrete, geometrodynamic and topological approaches, as well as a new interpretative spectrum of quantum theories after Copenhagen, discrete time theories, time-less approaches and 'super-fluid' pictures of space-time.As well as stimulating further research among established theoretical physicists, the book can also be used in courses on the philosophy and mathematics of theoretical physics.

Space, Time and the Limits of Human Understanding

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Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 3319444182
Total Pages : 530 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (194 download)

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Book Synopsis Space, Time and the Limits of Human Understanding by : Shyam Wuppuluri

Download or read book Space, Time and the Limits of Human Understanding written by Shyam Wuppuluri and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-12-01 with total page 530 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this compendium of essays, some of the world’s leading thinkers discuss their conceptions of space and time, as viewed through the lens of their own discipline. With an epilogue on the limits of human understanding, this volume hosts contributions from six or more diverse fields. It presumes only rudimentary background knowledge on the part of the reader. Time and again, through the prism of intellect, humans have tried to diffract reality into various distinct, yet seamless, atomic, yet holistic, independent, yet interrelated disciplines and have attempted to study it contextually. Philosophers debate the paradoxes, or engage in meditations, dialogues and reflections on the content and nature of space and time. Physicists, too, have been trying to mold space and time to fit their notions concerning micro- and macro-worlds. Mathematicians focus on the abstract aspects of space, time and measurement. While cognitive scientists ponder over the perceptual and experiential facets of our consciousness of space and time, computer scientists theoretically and practically try to optimize the space-time complexities in storing and retrieving data/information. The list is never-ending. Linguists, logicians, artists, evolutionary biologists, geographers etc., all are trying to weave a web of understanding around the same duo. However, our endeavour into a world of such endless imagination is restrained by intellectual dilemmas such as: Can humans comprehend everything? Are there any limits? Can finite thought fathom infinity? We have sought far and wide among the best minds to furnish articles that provide an overview of the above topics. We hope that, through this journey, a symphony of patterns and tapestry of intuitions will emerge, providing the reader with insights into the questions: What is Space? What is Time? Chapter [15] of this book is available open access under a CC BY 4.0 license.

Philosophy Beyond Spacetime

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Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 019884414X
Total Pages : 305 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (988 download)

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Book Synopsis Philosophy Beyond Spacetime by : Christian Wüthrich

Download or read book Philosophy Beyond Spacetime written by Christian Wüthrich and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2021 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Quantum gravity seeks a unified theory in which quantum matter is dynamically related to generally relativistic spacetime. Although a continuing work in progress, research programmes in the field such as string theory, loop quantum gravity, and causal set theory make it clear that a successful theory of quantum gravity will raise important challenges to our conceptions of space, time, and matter-perhaps abolishing them altogether as fundamental entities. But just as important, there is good reason to think that some of the problems in finding a theory of quantum gravity are themselves conceptual, in need of philosophical analysis. Philosophy Beyond Spacetime: Implications from Quantum Gravity assembles original papers from philosophers (and one physicist), establishing a definitive statement of the current state of play, on which future research into this area can build. Aiming to expand knowledge and understanding of the philosophy of quantum gravity, it emphasizes how debates in metaphysics--regarding emergence, composition, or grounding for example--shed light on the conceptual questions of quantum gravity. And conversely, how quantum theories of space and time call into question philosophical views grounded in classical spacetime. Furthermore, the philosophy of quantum gravity raises methodological questions, for instance concerning the relation between physics and metaphysics. The essays have been chosen to demonstrate to a wide range of philosophers the significance of the subject, as well as making novel contributions to it.