Reflection and the Context-Independence of Mental Models of Space

Abstract

From ancient societies such as Greece and China there is evidence for theoretical reflections on the representations of elementary and practical forms of spatial knowledge. In both societies this development can be argued to be closely related to the emergence of cultures of disputation and a vivid tradition of writing. The chapter discusses the knowledge emerging from such reflections as being distinguished from the elementary and practical forms on which it builds by its greater generality and aspiration for consistency. Two traditions are taken as examples, both originating in ancient Greece and both being further pursued, under different social and cultural circumstances, up into modern times: (1) the tradition of deductive geometry, which originated in the reflection on practical knowledge involving the use of drawing instruments; and (2) the tradition of philosophies of space, which originated in the reflection on the linguistic representation of elementary spatial knowledge.