Talk:Matter (philosophy)

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[edit] Won't do

This page really won't do. In philosophy, "matter" is usually taken to mean just what it means in physics. Gene Ward Smith 02:56, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

I'm not very familiar with philosophy, but I know that philosophers have said a lot of things about time and space, so I bet they've said a lot about matter too. If nothing else, this page could be a historical look at what they've said. --Strait 14:26, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Will do expanded

Hi. With regard to the first comment, I suppose it depends on what philosophy, as philosophy has a very long history. For most of it matter does NOT mean what it does in modern physics. However, as the commenter senses almost by intuition, today's concepts descend with some continuity from the previous. We are still looking for the ultimate "substance" that explains the physical universe. Now we are down to the structure of matter-energy and the "theory of everything". We have reached the limits of understanding in quantum physics.

I suppose the commenter means matter in a Newtonian Universe. "Roads? Whe needs roads?" The theorists have gone way beyond that from the turn of the 19th century into the 20th, starting with the discovery of the quantum and Einstein's hypothesis that there is no distinction between matter and energy.

With regard to the second comment, "I don't know anything about music, but I know what I like." Considering the various theories of matter it is hard to see how anything else but the history of the concept could go in here, with ample links to other main topics for specialized topics. I would carry the thing right up through to modern times, with the details in the article on physical matter. An article of this scope must be very general, but there are plenty of examples in Wikipedia. Being blessed with links, Wikipedia is rather good at that.

Accordingly I suggest the following outline, which you can mull and alter. This is a very big topic so don't rush to hasty generalization. Do some homework before you leap in.

The Quest for the Mother Substance

Milesians
Pluralists
Atomists
Hylomorphs
The manifestation of nothing

Roman Cosmologists

Lucretius
The cloud of atoms
The swerve

The Search for the Golden Process
The Rebirth of Atomism

Elements
Bodies

Beyond atoms
Beyond the limits of the knowable
Beyond particle physics

string theory