Abstract: The aims of this research are to explore the characteristics of three streams in the history of science, Newtonian mechanics, special relativity, and general relativity, regarding the relationship between space-time and matter in the universe. According to Newton’s hypothesis, absolute space exists as an independent entity, it is fundamental, and resembles a container that is capable of holding objects in place while having no relationship with matter itself. Additionally, according to him, absolute time is unrelated to all natural events; it exists eternally, independent from the material world, in a continuous and constant manner. The attributes of immutability, time, space, and matter are all independent from each other. In other words, in metaphysical mechanical philosophy, time and space—unlike matter—possess the quality of “matter-independence,” which means that they do not follow the natural laws. Conversely, the special theory of relativity suggests a “weak matter-dependence” of space-time at the level of relativization of space-time based on the objective motion of matter. The general theory of relativity, as indicated by Einstein field equations, clearly states a “strong matter-dependence” of space-time in that the distribution of matter directly determines the structure of space-time. Considering that the general theory of relativity hypothesizes situations that are more commonplace as compared to that of the special theory of relativity, it can be said that the strong matter-dependence of space-time is universally true for both theories of relativity. Therefore, the special theory of relativity is closer to Newtonian mechanics—a part of the school of metaphysical mechanical philosophy—while the general theory of relativity is closer to dialectical materialism. From a quantum mechanical perspective, space-time is not a background independent of matter. Rather, space-time can be viewed as strongly dependent on matter (information) in the sense that "space-time cannot exist without matter (quantum information)." However, the conceptualization of quantum information and space-time in the microscopic world can be described as mathematical and methodological naturalism.
Oh et al. (Thu,) studied this question.