________________
Vol. XV, No. 4
of the mind, though with a foundation in objective fact "I4
Thus the scholastics believe space and time to be subjective realities. They have divided space and time into three kinds : (i) real, (ii) possible and (iii) absolute.
(i) Real space is that which is occupied by a body or bodies. (ii) Possible space is unoccupied space. (iii) Absolute space is the sum of the two.18
Explaining them, Mcwilliams writes : "Hence absolute space takes in all space. We form this notion by prescinding from whether the space be occupied or not, and consider it only as being capable of occupation; in absolute space we break down the barriers between real and possible space and view it all as one. And, whereas real space is limited by the confines of the bodies in existence, and possible space is excluded from the compass of those bodies, absolute space recognises no limits whatever, and expands indefinitely in all ematics. On the other hand, possible space may be very restricted; for if there are vacua within the universe, little volumes not occupied by any matter whatsoever-not even by the ether***These vacua are as truly possible space as that which begins at the outer rim of the universe and stretches from thereof illimitably. Real space is always coterminous with the body concerned."16
Real time is that which coincides with the actual changes in the material universe; it extends from the beginning of motion up to the actual present, and is constantly being added to. Possible time is that which is not coincident with actual motion; it embraces not only the future but also that imaginary time which preceded the beginning of motion in the universe. Absolute time is both real and possible time considered as one; it is therefore all time, prescinding from whether or not it have the concomitant of existing physical motion."?
Descartes, Gassendi and Leibnis
Modern western philosophy and also modern science, it can be said, began with French philosopher and mathematician Rene Descartes (1596-1650). His notion of space seems to be based on the doctrine of "chora" propunded by Plato in his Timeaus. Plato's belief that one characteristic possessed in common by all the fleeting objects of sense-experience is chora, appears to be reflected in Descartes's proposition, that the essence of matter is extension.
"On this proposition he based first some reasoning of a scholastic kind : the relation of extension to material body is, in scholastig
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
