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An enquiry concerning the principles of natural knowledge

Chapter 1: AN ENQUIRY CONCERNING THE PRINCIPLES OF NATURAL KNOWLEDGE
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About This Book

A systematic examination of how the fundamental scientific concepts of space and time arise from the simplest generalizations of perceptual experience. The text traces the roles of mathematics and measurement in shaping physical geometry, distinguishing abstract axiomatic systems from geometry rooted in empirical observation. Developments in contemporary physics, including the theory of relativity, are assessed for their implications while avoiding commitment to specific laws. Philosophical questions about the object of perceptual knowledge are separated from metaphysical accounts of the knower, and methodological puzzles are identified to guide further inquiry.

AN ENQUIRY CONCERNING THE PRINCIPLES OF NATURAL KNOWLEDGE



BY



A. N. WHITEHEAD, Sc.D., F.R.S.

Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, Professor of Philosophy in Harvard University, and sometime Professor of Applied Mathematics in the Imperial College of Science and Technology



"PHILONOUS. I am not for imposing any sense on your words: you are at liberty to explain them as you please. Only, I beseech you, make me understand something by them."

BERKELEY,

The First Dialogue between
Hylas and Philonous.



CAMBRIDGE
AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS
1925