Edward Slowik
Winona State University, USA
Academic Year 2007-08
Alternative approaches to the ontology of space and spacetime

October 2007

Edward Slowik is a Professor in the Philosophy Department at Winona State University in Minnesota. His main research interests lie in the philosophy of space, time, matter and motion, from the Early Modern period to the present, with special emphasis on the ontology of space. While at the Center, he will investigate alternative ontological and epistemological approaches to space that eschew the traditional substantivalist and relationist categories (i.e., space as either a substance or a mere relation among substances). Among these alternative approaches, the most important is the structuralist conception, although the property theory and the Positivist-influenced definitional approach will also figure prominently in the investigation, as well as the contribution provided by twentieth century phenomenology and the contemporary lived-space movement. After a brief aviation career, Ed went on to receive his B.A. in Philosophy at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and his Ph.D. in Philosophy at Ohio State University. His previous works include, Cartesian Spacetime (Kluwer, 2002), and articles in various philosophy journals. Besides the history and philosophy of the natural sciences, other interests include the realism/anti-realism debate, the philosophy of religion, the philosophy of logic and mathematics, and Analytic philosophy. Ed is a big classical music fan, often frequents bookstores and coffee shops (too often, in fact), and follows Chicago sports teams (but only when they’re winning, which obviously isn’t often enough).

June 2008

Paper: "Newton, Substances and Accidents, and Third-Way Theories of Space", at the New York/New Jersey Reading Group in Early Modern Philosophy, 3/3/08

Award: The American Philosophical Society Sabbatical Award

September 2009

Articles published or forthcoming from 2008-2009 academic year: “Some Questions about Music.” in Philosophy and Radiohead ( Chicago: Open Court, 2009), edited by George Reisch and Brandon Forbes; “Another Go-Around on Leibniz on Rotation.” Forthcoming in Leibniz Review; “Newton’s Neo-Platonic Ontology of Space,” forthcoming in Foundations of Science; “Newton’s Metaphysics of Space: A “Tertium Quid” betwixt Substantivalism and Relationism, or merely A ‘God of The (Rational Mechanical) Gaps’?” forthcoming in Perspectives on Science; “The Fate of Mathematical Place: Objectivity and the Theory of Lived-Space from Husserl to Casey,” forthcoming in The Ontology of Spacetime, vol. 3 (Elsevier). Book review: Mechanics from Aristotle to Einstein, by M. J. Crowe ( Santa Fe: Green Lion Press, 2007), forthcoming in Annals of Science.

Presentations and Talks from 2008-2009 academic year: International Society for the History of Philosophy of Science (Biennial Meeting) “Newton’s Metaphysics of Space”, Seventh HOPOS, University of British Columbia, June 2008; “Newton on the Structure and Parts of Space”, Second International Conference on Integrated History and Philosophy of Science, Notre Dame University, March 2009, and, Minnesota Center for Philosophy of Science, U. of Minnesota, Sept, 2008; “Place and Lived-Space from Husserl to Casey”, Third International Conference on the Ontology and Nature of Spacetime, Concordia University, Montreal, June 2008.