10.3. Motion, Space and Time as Attributes of Matter. Social Space and Social Time as Forms of Human Being in Culture

Matter manifests itself in innumerable properties. Motion, space and time are viewed to be the most important ones. These are the attributes of matter, that is to say, its universal, intransient properties without which it could not exist.

Everything in the world is in continual motion, changing its form, being transformed and wavering between being and non-being of all individual existences. Since motion is an essential attribute of matter, to be means to be in motion.

Most thinkers of idealistic direction explained motion as God’s intervention, they animated matter. Materialistic philosophy does not accept the presence of the soul in matter and explains its activity with the help of cooperation of matter and fields. But, ordinary consciousness understands the term “motion” as a spatial moving of bodies. In philosophy such motion is called “mechanical”.

But what is motion? The philosophical definition of motion means any interactions and also changes in the states of objects provoked by this interaction. It is characterized with the following:

- motion is inseparable from matter, as it is the mode of its existence. One can not conceive matter without motion, and vise versa, it is impossible to conceive motion without matter;

- motion is objective, changes in matter could be brought only by practice;

- motion is not a pure continuum but the unity of continuum and discreteness, of change and stability, of disturbance and rest. In the endless flux of ceaseless motion there are always moments of discrete stability. Absolute rest is impossible, for to attain absolute rest would mean to cease to exist. Rest is always relative in character: bodies can only be at rest in relation to some reference system tentatively accepted as motionless.

Motion is a change. Types of motion, observable in the objective world, conditionally could be divided into quantitative and qualitative changes. Quantitative changes are always related to transformation of matter and energy in space. Qualitative changes are always related to radical alteration of inner structure of objects and their transformation into new objects, possessing new properties. In fact, the question is connected with development.

F. Engels made the classification of the forms of motion of matter and the corresponding classification of the sciences studying these forms of motion. According to the philosopher’s opinion, the lowest form of motion is simple transposition from one place to another, the highest is thought. The basic forms studied by natural science are mechanical, physical, chemical, and biological motion. Each lower form of motion makes a transition by means of a dialectical leap into a higher form. Each higher form bears within it as a subordinate moment a lower form but cannot be reduced to it. Guided by this central idea, F. Engels made a thoroughgoing study of the dialectical content of mathematics, mechanics, physics, chemistry, and biology and of the transitions of one form of motion to another and, correspondingly, the transitions of one science to another. In mathematics he singled out the problems of apparently a priori statements and of mathematical abstraction and explained their objective meaning; in physics, the doctrine of the transformation of energy; in chemistry, the problem of atomistics; and in biology, the problems of the origin and nature of life, cell theory, and Darwinism. The transition from natural science to the history of society takes the form of the labor theory of human origins developed by F. Engels.

Development is motion, related to transformation of quality of objects, processes or levels and forms of matter. One distinguishes dynamic and population development. Dynamic development is carried out as complication of objects, through opening of potential possibilities hidden in the preceding qualitative states, thus transformations keep indoors for scopes the existent type of matter (development of stars). In population development a transition is carried out from qualitative states, characteristic for one level of matter to the qualitative state of the next (transition from inorganic to animate nature). The source of population motion is self-motion of matter, according with the principle of self-organization.

All mentioned forms of motion of matter and their connection with types of matter and their development are embodied in the following principles:

1. The specific type of motion corresponds with each level of organization of matter.

2. Among the forms of motion there is the genetic connection. It means that superior forms of motion appear on the bases of the inferior ones.

3. Superior forms of motion are qualitative specific and can not be reduced to inferior ones.

The variety of all types of motion is unified due to the universal forms as space and time.

If I could come to the edge of space, would I be able to stick my arm through it or not? If I could not, what would prevent my doing it? If I could, then, have I come to the end of space? These questions were raised in antiquity by Archytas, a Pythagorean. His questions are profound since it is quite difficult to view space as either finite or infinite. Equally difficult is the question of the nature of space.

First, what is space? Early thinkers conceived of space in terms of something called ether, a substance through which light travels like a fish needs water to get from one part of the pond to another. Ether was conceived as necessary since a vacuum is a relatively late discovery. Another analogy used for space was that of a container. This illustrates where you place a chair in a room, in that "space" by the window. On a larger scale, space is what the world is in. But in neither of these cases is space really defined.

Later, philosophers beginning with Descartes spoke of space and extension as being identical. Objects could be measured for their extension. Take away the object from that particular space and the dimensions are still measurably "there." Since a vacuum was impossible in their belief system, space ether was important to give form or room to space. For Descartes, space was objective. Later, for Kant, space was regarded as subjective, that is, that space is a product of the mind rather than as a result of "experiencing" space, as a result of sensory perception. Space is imposed on objects.

Perhaps the problem of definition centers on trying to make space a thing. Things go in space, but space is not a thing. Space is unique, one of a kind. Then, if space is not a thing, we must think of it as a relationship between things. Thus, space could be defined as a form of the existence of matter characterized by such properties as extension, structuredness, coexistence and interaction of elements in all the material systems.

What is time then? The early Greeks thought of time in relation to motion. Aristotle wrote, "And so motion, too, is continuous in the same manner as time is; for either motion and time are the same, or time is an attribute of motion." As an example, time is the motion experienced in the movement of the sun from rise to sunset. On these grounds, time is also linked to matter. If there were no matter in motion, there would be no time. Hence Plato and others viewed time as subordinate to eternity and only semi-real. St. Augustine, famous for the question, "What is time?" regarded time as "extendedness" which is experienced in the mind itself. Later, I. Kant also regarded time as subjective but in the sense that the mind organizes experiences in sequential order.

Contemporary philosophers tend to reject the idea that time is an entity that moves, or that it is through time viewed as an entity that one moves. Time is not like a river that flows from point to point. This is why time is difficult to measure if it is regarded as real. Is there an absolute beginning point for time? If one answers that time has always been, then there is no beginning point or a point of departure for measuring it.

If one cannot speak of time as an entity, or time flowing like the analogy of a river, what is proposed to replace such descriptions? The answer is time is also a form of the existence of matter; it is characterized by such properties of alteration and development of systems as duration and sequential replacement of one state by another.

Material phenomena are characterized by their duration, the sequence of the stages of their motion, their development. Processes may take place either simultaneously, or precede or succeed one another. Such, for example, is the interrelation between day and night. The dimension of time can be measured only with the help of certain standards (in seconds. minutes, hours, days, years, centuries, etc.), that is to say, motions that are accepted as being even. The perception of time also allows us to assess the sequence and duration of events. Depending on our subjective sensations such as merriment or grief, pleasure or boredom, time seems either short or long. Time is a form of coordination of objects and states of matter in their succession. It consists in the fact that every state is a consecutive link in a process and has certain quantitative relations with other states. The order of succession of these objects and states forms the structure of time.

Space and time are universal forms of the existence of matter, the coordination of objects. The universality of these forms lies in the fact that they are forms of existence of all the objects and processes that have ever existed or will exist in the infinite universe. Not only the events of the external world, but also all feelings and thoughts take place in space and time. In the material world everything has extension and duration. Space and time have their peculiarities. Space has three dimensions: length, breadth and height, but time has only one—from the past through the present to the future. It is inevitable, unrepeatable and irreversible.

To sum up, everything in the world is spatial and temporal. Space and time are absolute. But since these are forms of matter in motion, they are not indifferent to their content. When it moves, an object does not leave an empty form behind it, space is not an apartment that can be let out to such a tenant as matter, and time cannot be compared to some monster that gnaws at things and leaves its tooth marks on them. Space and time are conditioned by matter, as a form is conditioned by its content, and every level of the motion of matter possesses its space-time structure. Thus, living cells and organisms, in which geometry becomes more complex and the rhythm of time changes, possess special space-time properties. This is biological time. There is also historical time, whose unit may be the replacement of one generation by another, which corresponds to a century. Depending on our practical needs, historical time is counted in centuries and millennia. The reference point may be certain cultural-historical events or even legends.

As we see, spatial and temporal characteristics of objects at different levels of matter have their peculiarities. They are the most important at the social level. What is social space and social time?

Social space is the space, mastered by humanity during its existence. It is a part of the physical space, which is the way of life of the society. It is inscribed in the space of biosphere. Social space is a space of human existence, which includes social, cultural, spiritual and practical dimensions. Man in his existence is involved into multi-dimensional spatial structures, sense of which are determined by the extent to which they correspond to being-situation at this particular time, to what extent they are "lived" by man, "his" for him. For instance, it is important for man the level of comfort of his lodging, job, recreation, car, and place among surrounding people.

Unlike physical space, the social one is created by people themselves. Mastering physical space, they transform the part of it according to their needs and interests: create artificial conditions of their lives, build settlements, cultivate the land, grow all the new plants and animals and so on. All this is a subspace of social space that constitutes the field of human culture. Each person is simultaneously in the space of life, society, culture, other people and his inner world. Man is not merely present in space, but he arranges the space of his life in culture. He creates a personal space that is integrated in social space. But at the same time, man’s space is autonomic, “privatized” one. Social space has cultural and historical boundaries, but also tend to expand: a society develops all new areas of physical space, make it cultural and social.

Social time is the duration of existence of the mankind, its history. It also has a cultural dimension. It indicates the extent of variability of social life, material and spiritual processes that occur in society. It can be depicted as a beam, which has a beginning (the shift from animal to human condition) and has no end. Unlike physical time, which flows uniformly and is measured in minutes, hours, days, years, etc., social time flows unevenly and measured in ages. Some periods are marked with a great number of social changes, and others are not. Thus, some social time in ages accelerates the move (“runs”, “flies”), and in some - slow (“creeps”, “stretches”).

Basic concepts and categories:

Being is a philosophical category denoting reality in all its aspects.

Matter is a philosophical category denoting the objective reality in an infinite set of all its manifestations.

Space is a philosophical category denoting reciprocal disposition of bodies and their configuration; it is a form of existence of matter.

Motion is a philosophical category denoting variability of the objective world; it is a mode of existence of matter.

Substance is a philosophical category denoting somewhat constant, the basis of things, phenomena, etc.

Time is a philosophical category denoting duration of existence of material bodies; it is a form of existence of matter.