Abstract
Newtonian mechanics has a container conception of space. Space is regarded as an empty receptacle in which all material bodies exist. For a long time, most defenders of this view claimed that it must be mind-dependent. Anton Marty is the first modern philosopher to argue both that physical space is mind-independent and that it has the features characteristic of Newtonian physical space. Moreover, he works out a number of metaphysical implications of this view. Therefore, Marty ought to be given a prominent place in the history of conceptions of space. As shown by Graham Nerlich, a container conception can be defended even after the twentieth-century revolutions in physics. By bringing Marty and Nerlich together, the paper claims that a container conception of space/space-time should even today be taken seriously in the philosophy of physics.
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Acknowledgements
This paper was once part of a paper where also perceptual spaces were discussed. For a number of important comments of all kinds on any of the earlier versions, I would like to thank Jan Almäng , Ann-Sophie Barwich , Clare Mac Cumhaill , Olivier Massin , Kevin Mulligan , Graham Nerlich , Ingemar Nordin , and Kristoffer Sundberg . The participants in the conference “Anton Marty and Contemporary Philosophy” (Geneva, June 15–17, 2017) made me realize some pedagogical problems. For some appropriate critical comments on the penultimate version I would like to thank an anonymous referee. At last, a large extra gratitude goes to Kevin for thirty-five years of intermittent philosophical exchange. Without these discussions, not even the first version of this paper could have been written.
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Johansson, I. (2019). A Presentation and Defense of Anton Marty’s Conception of Space. In: Bacigalupo, G., Leblanc, H. (eds) Anton Marty and Contemporary Philosophy. History of Analytic Philosophy. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05581-3_5
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