Parts and Places

The Structures of Spatial Representation

Bibliographic Data

ID10694316
AuthorsFranklin Mason, Roberto Casati (0000-0001-8215-6428), Achille C Varzi (0000-0001-9410-0405)
Year2001
Volume110
Issue3
Pages479
Publication date2001-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Philosophical Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0031-8108 • E-ISSN: 1558-1470
PublisherJSTOR (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/2693669
OpenAlexW2067145053
LanguageEN
Citations received38

Thinking about space is thinking about spatial things. The table is on the carpet; hence the carpet is under the table. The vase is in the box; hence the box is not in the vase. But what does it mean for an object to be somewhere? How are objects tied to the space they occupy? In this book Roberto Casati and Achille C. Varzi address some of the fundamental issues in the philosophy of spatial representation. Their starting point is an analysis of the interplay between mereology (the study of part/whole relations), topology (the study of spatial continuity and compactness), and the theory of spatial location proper. This leads to a unified framework for spatial representation understood quite broadly as a theory of the representation of spatial entities. The framework is then tested against some classical metaphysical questions such as: Are parts essential to their wholes? Is spatial co-location a sufficient criterion of identity? What (if anything) distinguishes material objects from events and other spatial entities? The concluding chapters deal with applications to topics as diverse as the logical analysis of movement and the semantics of maps

Contemporary philosophy · Epistemology · Geography · Political science · Representation (politics) · Architecture and Art History Studies · Computer Science · Law · Philosophy · Philosophy and Theoretical Science · Philosophy, Science, and History