PHIL 026 - Relativity and the Philosophy of Space and Time

Institution:

University of Pennsylvania

Subject:

Description:

Natural Science & Mathematics Sector. Class of 2010 and beyond. Domotor. Also fulfills General Requirement in Science Studies for Class of 2009 and prior. A study of the historical introduction to the philosophy of space and time from ancient Greek conceptions to modern scientific theories. We will especially focus on Zeno's paradoxes of space, time and motion, on Democritus' atomistic concept of empty space and Aristotle's topos, on the development of cosmology from Aristotle-Ptolemy to Copernicus, Tycho Brahe and Kepler. Then we will study the development of a new worldview in the XVI-XVIII centuries; Descartes, Galilei and Newton. Some lectures will be devoted to the crisis of the mechanical worldview and the origin of the modern science: theory of relativity, quantum mechanics and relativistic cosmology. No previous physics or philosophy will be presupposed, and only high school mathematics will be used.

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.upenn.edu

Phone Number:

(215) 898-5000

Regional Accreditation:

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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