When Time Turned into Space

Abstract

It has become a commonplace among intellectuals to speak of space-time instead of space and time. It is taken as a sign of scientific literacy. This seemingly harmless custom masks an alarming tendency in which thinking, today – especially about such abstract concepts as space and time – is being increasingly palmed off onto what is spoken of in hushed tones as Science, with a capital “S”. It is increasingly forgotten that science itself is knee deep in philosophical assumptions and presuppositions, and that the deliverances of science – including mathematical science – are in need of philosophical interpretation, and at times, correction. In the case of space-time, the question is whether the age-old dialectic of time vs. space, so fruitful for the development of western thought, is now, with the advent of relativity, in danger of disappearing, just as time itself has seemingly disappeared into relativistic space-time. We must ask ourselves: have the new dogmas of the new Church of Science simply replaced the old dogmas of the old Church?