Topological Philosophy

Topology is a fundamental theory of modern mathematics that may be characterized as a generalization of classical geometry. A first hint that topology may play a central role as a method of philosophy is the fact that “spatial jargon” permeates virtually all of our cognitive enterprises to an ever-increasing degree. This holds not only for the classical empirical sciences, such as physics, but also for psychology, the cognitive sciences, and even philosophy itself, as evidenced by the many types of “state space”, “phase space”, “logical space”, “conceptual space”, “ontological space” and “space of possible worlds” that show up in diverse areas of knowledge today.

A basic hypothesis of the group is that this “spatial talk” should not be dismissed as “purely metaphorical”. Rather, it points to the fundamental role that space (and therefore topology as a general theory of space) plays in all our cognitive enterprises. Ultimately, the importance of the spatial may be seen as being grounded in the fact that the world in which human beings live and act is a spatio-temporally structured one.

 

Selected publications

  • Skowron, B., Wójtowicz, K. Throwing spatial light: on topological explanations in Gestalt psychology. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences Sci (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11097-020-09691-1.
  • Kaczmarek, J. (2019). On the Topological Modelling of Ontological Objects: Substance in the Monadology. In Bartłomiej Skowron (Editor), Contemporary Polish Ontology (pp. 149–160). Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110669411-009.

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