On the Concepts of Time, Space, Vacuum and Domain of Investigation among Contemporary Physics, Philosophy, and Theological Reflection

نوع مقاله : مقاله علمی پژوهشی

نویسنده

School of Science and School of Engineering, University of Padova, Padova, Italy. School of Medicine, Applied Technical Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.

چکیده

Contemporary theology is realizing the importance of integrating the knowledge of modern/contemporary physics into the metaphysical and ontological categories used to consider God and the God-world relationship. Time is a complex notion with different meanings, characterized by a plurality of uses. The concept of time opens up to broader conceptions than those of physics, mathematics, and philosophy and reveals that the human being, the earth, and the cosmos are not the center of space or time. The concepts of space, time, and matter, to which the concept of vacuum is connected, are of central importance in any modern physical theory, and particularly in the theories of unification. It is being discovered that spacetime is absent at the most fundamental level and only emerges at an appropriate limit. This emerging image of time leads to new conceptual challenges that must be faced in parallel with philosophy and theological research
to achieve its correct understanding. It is a comparison of the viewpoints of the three investigative domains concerned with understanding the nature of consciousness, namely science, philosophy, and metaphysics. This thought process is connected to the intuitions of the contemplative and mystical traditions and seems to be in line with current scientific thought, which can be mathematically expressed. Recent scientific research struggles to grasp the subjective aspect of consciousness; subjective experience is in conflict with the figure of the observer classically understood in the scientific sense. The evolution of life and the relationship with the transcendent could have their information basis in a hyper-complex multi-dimensional space; recent efforts try to explain how mental states exist in the higher dimensions of this hyperspace; some recent models of unification integrate matter and consciousness through the use of this primordial multi-dimensional dynamic space. Ontological interpretations of quantum theory have been given, leading to patterns of bidirectional flow of consciousness between an explicate and an implicate order, supporting both local and non-local phenomena in the cosmos. The paper aims to offer an overview of the indicated issues with a trans-disciplinary method and through interesting hints for thought.

کلیدواژه‌ها

موضوعات


عنوان مقاله [English]

On the concepts of time, space, vacuum and domain of investigation among contemporary physics, philosophy and theological reflection

نویسنده [English]

  • Paolo Di Sia
School of Science and School of Engineering, University of Padova, Padova, Italy. School of Medicine, Applied Technical Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
چکیده [English]

Contemporary theology is realizing the importance of integrating the knowledge of
modern/contemporary physics into the metaphysical and ontological categories used
to consider God and the God-world relationship. Time is a complex notion with
different meanings, characterized by a plurality of uses. The concept of time opens up
to broader conceptions than those of physics, mathematics and philosophy and reveals
that the human being, the earth and the cosmos are not the center of space or time.
The concepts of space, time and matter, to which the concept of vacuum is connected,
are of central importance in any modern physical theory, and particularly in the
theories of unification. It is being discovered that spacetime is absent at the most
fundamental level and only emerges at an appropriate limit. This emerging image of
time leads to new conceptual challenges that must be faced in parallel with
philosophy and theological research to achieve its correct understanding. It is a
comparison of the viewpoints of the three investigative domains concerned with
understanding the nature of consciousness, namely science, philosophy and
metaphysics. This thought process is connected to the intuitions of the contemplative
and mystical traditions

کلیدواژه‌ها [English]

  • time
  • space
  • vacuum
  • science
  • philosophy
  • theology
  • matter
  • mind
  • consciousness
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