Editing Absolute theory

In [[philosophy]], '''absolute theory''' (or '''absolutism''')<ref name=SEP/> usually refers to a theory based on concepts (such as the concept of space) that exist independently of other concepts and objects. The absolute point of view was advocated in physics by [[Isaac Newton]].<ref name=SEP>[https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/spacetime-theories/ "Absolute and Relational Theories of Space and Motion" (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)]</ref> It is one of the traditional views of space along with [[relational theory]] and the [[Kantianism|Kantian]] theory.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Governance Reform in Africa: International and Domestic Pressures and Counter-Pressures|last=Bachelard|first=Jerome|date=2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-69855-4|location=Oxon|pages=18}}</ref>

== Overview ==
According to the absolute theory of space, it is a homogeneous structure which exists and is independent of other things.<ref name=":0" /> The Newtonian arguments of this theory, particularly those concerned with the [[Ontology|ontological]] status of space and time, had been related to the existence of God through the concepts of [[Absolute space and time|absolute space and absolute time]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=Space, Time, and Theology in the Leibniz-Newton Controversy|last=Khamara|first=Edward J.|date=2006|publisher=Transaction Books|isbn=978-3-11-032830-1|location=Piscataway, NJ|pages=6}}</ref> It was proposed that the universe was finite in extent and was said to have begun in time.<ref name=":1" /> Additionally, space exists prior to the body or matter that occupies it and it was held that the universe – as a finite object – is situated within it.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title=Bacon to Kant: An Introduction to Modern Philosophy, Third Edition|last=Thomson|first=Garrett|date=2012-05-21|publisher=Waveland Press|isbn=978-1-4786-1045-8|location=Long Grove, Illinois|pages=106}}</ref>

The theory was also promoted by Newton's followers including [[Samuel Clarke]] and [[Roger Cotes]] during the 17th and 18th centuries.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Space and Incongruence: The Origin of Kant’s Idealism|last=Buroker|first=J. V.|date=1981|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=9789048183630|location=Dordrecht|pages=8}}</ref>

== Related theories ==
An absolute theory is the opposite of a [[relational theory]].<ref name="SEP"/> [[Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz]], the main proponent of relational theory, argued that there is no absolute space and time.<ref name=":2" /> He maintained that space is not independent nor a container of the matter that occupies it, explaining that physical objects or forces are ordered spatially and that space is merely a system of relations.<ref name=":2" /> According to the relational theory, without objects, there is no space.

[[Martin Heidegger]]'s theory of space also opposes the absolute theory, with the criticism that it is founded on [[Metaphysics|metaphysical]] dichotomy of separated subject and object.<ref name=":0" /> He maintained that this nature keeps absolute theory from explaining the true nature of space.

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{Isaac Newton}}

[[Category:Philosophy of physics]]
[[Category:Theories]]


{{science-philo-stub}}